


Home With You

by Nekomata58919



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Barebacking, Beetlejuice should be his own warning I feel, Fluff, Multi, References to Drugs, Rimming, Slow Burn, Smut, my attempt at humor, references to movie, references to other things, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2020-07-30 15:29:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 42,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20099470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekomata58919/pseuds/Nekomata58919
Summary: If there was one thing Beetlejuice knew for a fact, it was that the afterlife was one big disappointment after another.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone!  
I really, really shouldn't be posting this because I have SO many other fanfics going, but I have no self control, so... Anyway, this is set after the events of the musical, though I do make some references to the movie (not enough that if you haven't seen it you'll be lost).  
While I can't promise regular updates, I do hope you enjoy it anyway.

If there was one thing Beetlejuice knew for a fact, it was that the afterlife was one big disappointment after another. Turned out that he couldn’t do a vision quest. Something about demons not being aloud, especially one hundreds of years old, blah blah blah. Stupid rules, like usual.

So of course he turned to just getting straight up high on, well, everything. Beeltejuice had hoped that would work just as well. It didn’t. Instead it just made him think everything was a sandworm that wanted to eat him next. That hadn’t been fun at all, and he’d learned nothing new about himself.

Beetlejuice had been desperate enough to even try that meditation crap breathers liked so much. He’d traveled all the way to the top of Mount Everest, pushed off the man that had been yelling and freaking out, and proceeded to quiet his mind.

For about ten seconds. As it happened, Beetlejuice wasn’t great at sitting still and not thinking about anything.

Which was why he was now in the Netherworld in his mom’s office, on to the second part of his plan. Finding his dad. Beetlejuice rifled through boxes, shoving them aside when they weren’t what he wanted, and scattering useless papers across the crooked wooden floors. He found a filing cabinet near the back of the room. That was promising. If only he understood his mom’s gibberish labeling system. Beetlejuice grabbed the handle for the first drawer and pulled.

Nothing.

“Of course she fucking locked it,” Beetlejuice growled. He smacked the cabinet, but it didn’t help. Beetlejuice waded through the mess he’d made over to Juno’s desk. Hopefully she’d kept the key somewhere in there and not on her. He was _not_ going to go hunting sandworms just to find a damn key.

Beetlejuice sat down in the black leather chair and yanked open a drawer. A flask slid forward, banging against the inside of the drawer. Curling his lip, he slammed the drawer shut again. It took a few more tries before he found what he was looking for. He hoped. Beetlejuice snatched the little silver key from the final drawer and made his way back to the filing cabinet.

It fit. Grinning, Beetlejuice pulled open the top drawer. And groaned. There were so many files, and patience had never been one of his virtues. He wasn’t sure he had any virtues at all, to be fair. Still, he hauled them out and plopped down onto the floor.

Criminal reports, new arrivals, haunted locations that were too full, there were so many files of useless shit. Same with the next drawer. And the next.

Hours later and Beetlejuice was ready to set the whole place on fire. He tossed the files from the bottom drawer into the air with a snarl. “Dammit!” Of course Juno had kept files on the few other Born Dead and their parents, but nothing on him and his dad. Not even the tiniest scrap of a hint.

“Oh? Beetlejuice?”

Beetlejuice looked up. Ms. Argentina was standing in the doorway, eyes wide. Her gaze flicked around the room, taking in the damage, before landing on him again. “What?”

Ms. Argentina stepped inside. “Someone said they thought they saw you.” She sighed and a paper appeared in her teal hand. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but here you go.”

Refusing to get up, Beetlejuice simply stretched his hand out to grab the paper. He looked it over, brows scrunching together more and more as he did. “You’re banning me? You can’t ban me from the Netherworld!”

Ms. Argentina shrugged. “It wasn’t my decision, that was the council’s doing.”

“Council?” Beetlejuice stood. “What council?”

“One was formed after Juno’s “unfortunate” accident,” Ms. Argentina replied. She settled her hands on her hips. “We didn’t want another tyrant running the place, so we decided to go for a little democracy.”

Beetlejuice bared his teeth. “How is this democracy? Don’t I get a say?”

Ms. Argentia’s brows rose. “It’s still in the early stages. They thought it’d be best for you not to be around while they figured everything out, considering how much trouble you caused us all.” She turned and headed for the door. “It’s not permanent, just until things have settled, then you’ll be given a proper trial.”

The paper in Beetlejuice’s grasp disappeared. Before he could say or do anything else, an invisible force shoved him. “Hey! NO!” The Netherworld around him dissolved into green and white light.

And then he was in the human world.

Beetlejuice blinked and frowned, trying to figure out where he was. The golden glow of the setting sun filtered through the gray haze of clouds. Patchy clumps of snow dotted the graveyard, varying from bright white blankets covering the headstones, to muddy brown slush lining the paths. Some of the trees were just starting to turn green again.

“NO! Dammit!” Beetlejuice kicked at the snow.

It wasn’t fair. That “council” had no reason to ban him. Did they really think he wanted to rule? That his _mom_ had wanted him to rule? Beetlejuice didn’t care about government and rulership. They should know that, he hadn’t even wanted to guide people to the afterlife. So what threat could he possibly be in the Netherworld?

Beeltejuice floated up sat on one of the mausoleums, chin in his hands. Lydia and the Maitlands didn’t want him. His parents had never wanted him. Now the Netherworld… What was he supposed to do? Where could he go? He just wanted to belong _somewhere._

Beetlejuice lay back against the limestone, and curled up on his side.

* * *

The houses in the neighborhood were spaced out unevenly, but within a reasonable distance from each other. Close enough to feel connected, but not so close as to feel like they lived on top of each other. Lawns were mostly neat and tidy, though the bushes and trees were rather scraggly. Many of the houses were simple two-story ones without any defining characteristics beyond their color scheme. Some had Christmas lawn ornaments still left out, and one had the American flag hanging on the front door. Beetlejuice had figured he was in the US, but that had confirmed it.

Beetlejuice stopped in the middle of the road and looked up at the crescent moon hanging in the sky. He glared at it. It looked like it was smiling at him, laughing at him for being so pathetic. A strange tug in his gut jolted him from his moping. That felt oddly like… But no-one was summoning him. He didn’t hear his name being called.

The tug happened again. Beetlejuice poked at his stomach. It was a distantly familiar feeling, that tug. His eyes widened. He turned in a circle, trying to follow the source of the tugging. “There!”

Beetlejuice let the tugging lead him to an older, colonial style house. Outside, parked along the edge of the street, was a black van. A silver car sat in the driveway. The tugging was more insistent. Someone was definitely using a Ouija board in there.

Ouija boards could be used to summon any ghost or demon in the area. Sort of. They were an open invitation to interact with the living, though not to the extent of a proper summoning. Beetlejuice grinned. Maybe he could use the idiots inside to his advantage.

The inside of the house was pitch black, though Beetlejuice could see just fine. Which meant the cameras set up all over the place were pretty damn obvious. Not only that, there was a ghost peering into one of them. Until he noticed Beetlejuice.

“Sup,” Beetlejuice said.

The man yelped and vanished, presumably to another part of the house.

“Wow. Rude.” Beetlejuice floated up through the floorboards until he reached the attic, and the people who were using the Ouija board.

Three men and a woman sat on the floor in a circle around the board. Two cameras had been set up; one covered most of the attic, and the other was focused on the Ouija board itself. A small light had been set up by the board as well, so the breathers could see. Which meant that what was going on was for one of those paranormal TV shows.

Maybe it was because he had nothing else to do, maybe he acted out because he was lonely, or maybe it was the line of coke he’d snorted almost an hour ago, but he really, really wanted to mess with them. Even if Beetlejuice couldn’t get them to say his name, he could have some fun.

“Are you all ready?” one of the men asked. With his black hair, black clothes, and muscles, he looked like a ripped goth. But with hipster glasses. _Too bad._ Beetlejuice sat himself down between him and the brunette woman with the freckles.

“I’m a little nervous,” Freckles said, tucking her short hair behind her ear. “But yeah, I’m ready.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll make sure to cleanse the place before we leave,” the bald man with the goatee in the middle said. He, too, was wearing mostly black, as did the third man with the floppy hair and beard.

Goth Man nodded and placed his finger on the planchette. Baldy, Beardy, and Freckles followed suit. Beetlejuice leaned over and blew on Goth Man’s face.

“Ah! I just got a cold feeling on my face,” Goth Man exclaimed, flinching away.

“Is it still there?” Baldy asked.

Goth Man lifted a hand, nearly smacking Beetlejuice. “No. But I think there’s a presence here with us. It feels heavy in here.”

“Yeah, I was feeling that a few minutes ago, but now it’s worse,” Beardy agreed.

Goth Man put his finger back on the planchette. “Is there someone here with us?”

Beetlejuice waved his hand, sliding the planchette over to “Hello”.

“Dude! It moved!” Baldy exclaimed, eyes wide.

“I didn’t do that…” Freckles said.

“Me neither,” Beardy muttered.

“Okay, okay, let’s not freak out,” Goth Man told them. He looked around at the darkness. “What do you want?”

Beetlejuice grumbled to himself. Why couldn’t they have asked for his name? He looked around at them all, smirked, and moved the planchette.

“F-U-C-K… Fuck?” Goth Man read. His brows shot up his forehead. “Did the ghost just swear at us?”

Baldy’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god, dude! It did!”

“Unless it was saying it wants to fuck?” Beardy pointed out.

Goth Man nodded. “Do you want to fuck one of us?”

The planchette shot over to YES.

“BRO!” Baldy shouted.

“Wow.” Freckles shifted in her seat, looking highly uncomfortable.

“Why do we keep getting horny ghosts?” Goth Man complained.

“Maybe because you always asked them to fuck you before?” Baldy suggested with a smirk. Beardy laughed, nodding along.

Freckles looked at them. “This is weird, though. I never got the feeling it wanted… _that_ before.”

“So it never groped you or anything?” Goth Man asked, adjusting his glasses.

“No. Just the scratches and pushing,” Freckles replied.

Goth Man returned his attention to the board. “Do you want to hurt her?”

Beetlejuice sighed and moved the planchette to NO.

“Huh. Maybe this isn’t the same spirit,” Goth Man said with a frown. “Who are you?”

Grinning, Beetlejuice tried to move the planchette to B. It didn’t budge. Of course he couldn’t just spell out his name, that would be too easy. Sighing, Beetlejuice spelled out another word.

“S-H-A-R-A-D-E-S,” Goth Man recited.

Baldy scratched at his head. “Uh, I don’t think this ghost can spell, if it’s trying to say charades.”

“F-U-C-K Y-O-U.” Goth Man turned to Baldy. “Holy crap, dude, I think you insulted it!”

“This is crazy…” Beardy said.

Baldy grimaced. “Oh, uh, sorry?”

Freckles tilted her head. “I don’t get it. Why did it say charades when you asked who it is?”

Beetlejuice sighed and rolled his eyes. They were all morons.

“I’d wonder if it was a kid, but considering the language it just used, probably not,” Baldy said with a snort.

“Maybe it wants us to play charades to figure out who it is?” Goth Man suggested.

Beetlejuice shoved the planchette to YES.

“Damn. We’re really getting fast responses. I’m almost wondering if we should get a recorder in here for some EVPs,” Goth Man said.

“I say we stick with this, since we’re actually getting somewhere with it,” Baldy pointed out.

Goth Man nodded. “You’re right. But how are we supposed to play charades with an Ouija board?”

At the rate they were going, Beetlejuice was sure he’d have died and come back as a proper ghost, had he been alive to begin with.

“A-S-S-O-S-A-S-H-O-N.” Goth Man shook his head. “What the hell is that supposed to be?”

“Association?” Beardy guessed.

Beetlejuice moved the planchette to YES.

Freckles hummed softly. “Maybe it’ll give us a word related to what it wants us to guess?”

YES. Beetlejuice then slid the planchette up to 2, then down to W.

“Two words,” Baldy said.

YES. The planchette moved to 1.

Goth Man nodded. “First word.” He watched the planchette move. “I-N-S-E-C-T. Insect.”

Baldy rubbed at his chin. “Fly?”

NO.

“Spider?” Beardy asked.

“Aren’t those arachnids?” Goth Man pointed out.

Baldy shrugged. “Maybe it couldn’t spell that?”

Beetlejuice, fed up, elongated his arm and slapped Baldy upside the head.

“Ow! DUDE WHAT THE HELL!?” Baldy yelped. “It slapped me!”

“Dude!” Goth Man shouted, eyes wide.

Beetlejuice quickly spelled out “Guess”.

“I think it wants us to keep going,” Beardy said.

“Should we?” Freckles asked, biting her lip.

Goth Man nodded as they all settled down again. “Yeah. I want to know who this asshole is.” He frowned down at the Ouija board. “So we went through fly, and spider… Bug?”

Beetlejuice sighed and moved the planchette to NO.

“Uhh… Beetle?” Freckles guessed.

Trying not to knock the whole thing over, Beetlejuice shot the planchette over to YES three times.

“So, beetle is the first word,” Goth Man said. The planchette slid over to 2. “Second word?”

“D-R-I-N-K,” Baldy read. “So, some kinda drink. Beer?”

Beetlejuice wanted to smack his head into the nearest wall. Repeatedly. NO.

“Water?” Freckles asked.

NO.

“Milk? Wine?” Beardy offered, looking more and more confused.

“Is it any type of alcohol?” Goth Man asked.

NO.

Baldy’s brows furrowed. “Uh… How about juice?”

Beetlejuice whipped the planchette to YES.

“Beetle juice? What does that mean?” Goth Man shook his head, confused. The planchette moved again. “N-A-M-E. Name? Your name’s Beetlejuice?”

YES.

Beardy cleared his throat. “I know I wasn’t there for it, man, but this really feels like that Z-demon thing.”

Beetlejuice growled. Zozo was always messing around with the damn Ouija boards. It was like she was addicted, and it ruined others chances of using it when they were afraid they’d get her.

“You’re right,” Goth Man said, pointing the finger that wasn’t on the planchette at Beardy. “I’ll ask it. We all know it enjoys announcing itself.” He looked around. “Are you Zozo?”

NO.

“It could be lying?” Baldy said.

“Z-O-Z-O I-S A D-U-M-B-A-S-S. Zozo is a dumbass?” Goth Man sounded both amused and surprised. “Guess it’s not the same one.”

“But what kinda name is Beetlejuice?” Baldy asked.

Beardy perked up. “I don’t know for sure, but I think that’s the name of a star? Spelled differently, though.”

Beetlejuice rolled his eyes and spelled out something else.

“Name three times?” Goth Man repeated.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Baldy said.

Goth Man nodded. “This is really starting to sound demonic. Using three can’t be a coincidence.”

“Oh come on,” Beetlejuice muttered, huffing through his nose.

“Maybe we should stop,” Freckles said.

Goth Man shook his head and puffed up his chest. “If this is a demon, we’ve got great evidence. I’m not giving up now. So come on, demon! You don’t scare me. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!”

“YEAH!” Beetlejuice jumped into the air. The lights flared, blindingly bright. “It’s showtime, losers!”

“WHAT THE FUCK?” Baldy exclaimed, scrambling backwards as the lights crackled and died.

Beetlejuice snapped his fingers, shutting off the cameras. He didn’t need to cause _that_ much trouble. Beetlejuice’s gaze landed on Goth Man. He popped over, grabbed him by the front of the shirt, and smashed their mouths together in a kiss. “Thanks for summoning me!”

Goth Man wiped at his mouth with a horrified grimace. “What the hell?”

Beetlejuice spotted Freckles sprinting for the door and he slammed it shut. “Don’t even try it, sweet-cheeks.”

A striped tentacle shot out from his back, wrapping around Baldy’s ankle and lifting him into the air. “Just because I can’t spell for shit, doesn’t mean I can’t fuck your night up, buddy.” But he wasn’t in the murdering mood. Beetlejuice dropped him. No, now that he was properly in the human world, he had plans. “Good thing for all of you I’m in a good mood. Now… Get out!”

The door swung open and the four breathers ran out screaming.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, commenting and leaving kudos, everyone! I really appreciate it! :D

Beetlejuice stood at the bottom of the hill, looking up at the white house which loomed over the rest of the landscape. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t go up there and burst in like he’d planned, acting like nothing had happened. They’d probably banish him if he tried. But maybe he was just being paranoid. Beetlejuice appeared at the porch steps. Instead of going up them, however, he crept along the side to peer into a window.

The kitchen was still blue. And empty. The living room, however, was very different from how he remembered. The walls were a pale green now, non-offensive to human eyes. Potted plants surrounded Delia’s sculptures, and pottery had been arranged just so by the fireplace. Beetlejuice could sort of see into the dining room if he angled himself right.

But then Delilah and Chuck walked into view. They were talking, or arguing, it was hard to tell. Chuck turned to the staircase and a few moments later Lydia came down to the landing. Beetlejuice quickly turned himself invisible. If she’d looked even a few inches up and to the left, she’d have seen him. Beetlejuice wasn’t ready for anyone to see him. However, he really wanted to know what was going on.

Beetlejuice smushed his face against the glass and allowed his supernatural senses to take over.

“I’m _not_ wearing pink,” Lydia said, grip tightening on the railing.

“Lydia,” Chuck sighed, rubbing at his temples. “It’s just for one day.”

Debby nodded. “Exactly. And you’d look absolutely gorgeous in pink.”

“All the other bridesmaids will be wearing it, and as the Maid of Honor you should as well,” Chuck added.

Beetlejuice’s brows rose. His eyes narrowed as he focused in on Donna’s hands. She was still only wearing an engagement ring. So it was her and Chuck’s wedding that was being planned.

Lydia looked away, hands dropping to her sides with a huff. “I’ll try it on.”

“Thank you! I’m sure you’ll like it once you try it,” Debora said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She turned and disappeared for a moment around a corner, then returned with a sparkly golden bag in her hand, which she held up for Lydia to take.

With a sigh, Beetlejuice pushed away from the window. He looked up at the attic window and chewed on his bottom lip. “Might as well,” he muttered. Beetlejuice floated up to the top floor of the house and hovered outside the window to the attic.

Adam and Barbara were cuddled up together on a comfy beige couch that had been set up against one of the walls. They looked sickeningly sweet, talking to each other, and smiling, and being happy. Beetlejuice didn’t even bother listening in. He didn’t want to know. Instead he drifted onto the roof and sat there, dejected.

So they were all happy. They’d moved on, like he’d never even been in their lives. Beetlejuice didn’t know whether to be sad or pissed off. He knew he should probably leave, but he couldn’t make himself. It was stupid, but Beetlejuice still—he shuddered—_cared _about them. And maybe, if he couldn’t live with them, he could live vicariously through them.

* * *

It had taken a lot of arguing with himself, but Beetlejuice eventually made a decision. As Lydia got onto her bike and took off for school, Beetlejuice floated after her, still keeping himself invisible. He passed over the wooden bridge before drifting along behind her as she rode into the little town of White River, Connecticut. Eventually they came to a small three-story brick building, with a big sign out front which welcomed everyone back from spring break. Lydia’s school.

Beetlejuice watched her go in, joining the other girls and boys close to her age, before circling the building, trying to see if she’d appear in any of the classrooms. As soon as he spotted her, he settled down on the branch of a tree that was growing just outside.

For a while, nothing much happened. Then Lydia glanced around the room before sneaking her phone from her bag. Beetlejuice grinned and watched her scroll through it, the teacher oblivious. Whatever she was looking at made her eyes widen, but then she quickly shut it off and shoved the phone back in her bag. That was disappointing.

A few minutes later, Lydia jumped. Just a little, but it was enough to catch Beetlejuice’s attention. He leaned to the side and saw the boy behind her kick her chair again. Lydia glared over her shoulder at the boy, who smirked and shrugged. The moment she turned away he kicked it again.

Beetlejuice’s eyes narrowed and he snapped his fingers. The boy and his desk crashed to the side. He could hear the yelp of pain from outside, making him cackle. _Good, no-one bugs my friends but me._ Beetlejuice grinned as the boy was sent out of the classroom. Unfortunately, that was the last amusing thing to happen for the rest of the class.

He hadn’t counted on just how boring watching and waiting outside would be, especially when he couldn’t find her in in any of the other classrooms that had windows. Beeltejuice would have to wait for who knew how long to watch her again, and that wasn’t happening. Though he supposed he could always track her down inside. Beetlejuice shook his head.

He popped back over to the Maitland/Deetz house, appearing on the porch. From there he had a better view into the living room than what he’d found before. Whether that was good or not was another question, as Beetlejuice could see the Maitlands bustling around doing… stuff. Decorating? Rearranging? He wasn’t sure.

Once again that uncomfortable fluttery feeling swirled in his guts, like when he ate all those moths that one time. Beetlejuice sighed and rested his forehead against the glass. As boring as they were, he wanted to be in there with them. Making fun of them, flirting, having fun, anything would be fine.

His lip curled and he turned away from the house. He didn’t need them. Sure Adam was sexy, and Barbara was undoubtedly beautiful, and Beetlejuice was secretly fond of how vanilla they were because he really wanted to teach them to go absolutely wild, but he could find that anywhere. Just because he hadn’t come across anyone that captured his attention in the same way as they had in the millennia he’d been alive, didn’t mean he couldn’t find someone—or someones—in the future.

Right?

Beetlejuice snarled and kicked the side of the house. He turned and caught sight of the dead rose bush that was now on fire. _Oops. _Beetlejuice dropped onto the bush, uncaring of the thorns, smothering the flames under his body. The Maitlands and the Deetz would definitely never forgive him if he set the place on fire.

Once he was sure it was out, Beetlejuice sat up. He plucked the thorns from his jacket, hands, and face, as he floated up to the roof. There was no getting over any of them, because ultimately, he knew he didn’t want to. Even if it would be better for everyone.

Maybe his mom had been right. Beetlejuice was a desperate fool.

* * *

Lydia bounded through the front door, causing Adam and Barbara to jump. But only a little. Adam glanced at the clock, and sure enough it was almost three in the afternoon. School was out.

“Welcome home,” Barbara said, setting aside the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, which she’d been trying to read again. She wrapped her arms around Lydia in a hug, draining some of her own energy to allow the physical touch. “How was school?”

“Fine. The usual,” Lydia replied with a shrug. She grinned and pulled her phone from her bag. “But there’s something I’ve gotta show you guys.”

Adam and Barbara followed her over to the streamlined white couch and sat on either side of her. “You weren’t on your phone during classes, were you?” Adam asked, arching one brow. She had done it before and when he and Barbara found out, well, they weren’t mad so much as disappointed. She hadn’t done it since.

Lydia rolled her eyes. “_No._”

“Okay, then what do you want to show us?” Barbara asked.

“So you know that ghost hunting show I got you into?” Lydia said, scrolling through her phone.

Barbara huffed, looking amused. “Yes.”

A few months ago, Lydia had convinced them both to watch some ghost hunting show on TV. Adam had been hesitant at first, thinking perhaps it would be in bad taste, but they’d gone along with it. As it turned out, it was a lot of fun. Especially when they could see what the ghosts were actually doing when the crew was freaking out.

“Well, they just made an update yesterday on their twitter. Look.” Lydia held up her phone so they both could see. “They’re freaking out over a house where they just filmed. Here: ‘We just got back from one of the craziest locations yet! I don’t know if we can even show it on TV.’”

“People are saying that’s almost what they always say,” Adam pointed out.

Lydia shook her head. “Yeah, but then they made another tweet talking about how a demon tricked them into saying its name. Sound familiar?”

Adam and Barbara exchanged a look. It sounded like Beeltejuice.

“Maybe it’s a coincidence?” Barbara suggested. She didn’t sound certain, though.

“It could be,” Adam agreed.

“But what if it’s not?” Lydia asked, turning off her phone. “What if he shows up here?”

That was a good question, and one Adam wasn’t sure how to answer. Judging by Barbara’s equally lost expression, neither did she. Things had been left on a rather odd note between them all.

“I suppose we’d deal with it, if it happens. Otherwise I don’t see the point in worrying,” Barbara replied with a shrug.

Lydia tilted her head. “Oh, I’m not worried, I was just wondering.” She sighed and leaned back into the stiff cushions. “I know it sounds weird, but, I kinda miss him? We were friends, even if it was only for like, three days.”

“That’s not weird,” Barbara said. Her fingers twitched, clearly wishing to put her arm around Lydia. She looked at Adam, who nodded, and she smiled. “We sort of miss him, too. He was certainly… memorable. Though, there’s also a lot he has to make up for.”

“Conflicting feelings are normal, even if they can be annoying,” Adam chuckled.

Lydia laughed. “Yeah, that’s true.”

* * *

A loud growl startled Beetlejuice from his dozing on the roof. It took him a second to realize it was his own stomach. He was starving. Great. Sighing, Beetlejuice looked around for something to munch on.

Drifting down to the ground, he spotted some trash cans by the side door. Those probably had some good grub. Beetlejuice tossed aside the lids of both and rooted through them. He stuffed his face with whatever seemed good; old food, glass, ants, a cardboard box.

A window rattled as it opened. Beetlejuice’s head shot up. That was Lydia’s room. He changed into the first thing he thought of—a raccoon. Lydia popped her head out of the window and looked around. She spotted him pretty quick.

Beetlejuice scampered away from the trash and over to a tree. He glanced back to see her watching. Crap. He clawed his way up the tree and hauled himself onto a branch. When he looked again, Lydia was ducking back into her room. The window slid shut and Beetlejuice flopped onto the branch.

That had been a little too close for comfort.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the lovely comments! They're so sweet and give me lots of motivation! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.

The inside of the school was about as bland as the exterior. Plain white walls, dingy gray lockers, cheery little posters, and cork boards with announcements for various after school activities. Beetlejuice finally understood why so many people complained about going. Besides the whole _learning_ thing.

Lydia stopped at her locker to grab some books, and Beetlejuice took the time to admire the decorating she’d done to the inside. Fake spiderwebs, a cut out drawing of a sandworm, and photos she’d taken of various ghosts around town had been taped to her locker door. It was pretty sweet, as far as Beetlejuice was concerned.

“Halloween was over seven months ago,” sneered a girl who was sauntering past. The guy with her snickered.

“Well being a _petty bitch_ was over _seven years_ ago,” Lydia retorted, slamming her locker door shut. Beetlejuice would’ve given her a high-five if he’d been able to, instead he glared after the two little shits as they walked off.

Following Lydia through her classes was only marginally less boring than waiting outside for her to show up had been. He was so very tempted to mess with the teachers and other students, but his desire not to be found out made him behave.

When lunch time rolled around, Beetlejuice watched as Lydia went to sit by herself at a table in the corner. She didn’t seem to mind much, but he had to wonder if that was just a front. Beetlejuice sat on the table top, crossing his legs and leaning back against the wall. Which was fine, until Lydia’s nose wrinkled and she looked around.

Beetlejuice might have been invisible, but his stink wasn’t. He scooted to the side a bit more, to the end of the table. After a moment, Lydia shrugged and picked at the cafeteria food. Beetlejuice frowned, he’d have to be more careful about that in the future.

Two girls approached the table, a blonde and a brunette. The blonde leaned over a little, braid flopping across her shoulder, to get Lydia’s attention. “Hi, you’re Lydia, right?” she asked with a smile.

Lydia eyed her carefully. “Yeah.”

“I’m Megan,” the blonde said. She gestured to her friend. “This is Tess.”

“Hi,” Tess said, smiling as well.

“Hi…” Lydia sat up straight in her seat.

“We were just wondering, well, you were sitting alone...” Megan trailed off, looking thoughtful.

Lydia frowned a little. “What? You wanted to sit with me?”

Megan and Tess looked at each other, then busted out laughing. “Yeah, right!”

“You’re so stupid!” Tess said with a nasty grin. “Like we’d ever sit with you.”

The students at a nearby table snickered and whispered to each other. Megan and Tess turned and flounced off, joining the table.

Oh. That was _not_ going to fly. Beetlejuice didn’t need a mirror to know his hair had gone bright red. He glanced at Lydia. His vengeance would have to wait until she wasn’t around, though. But that just meant he could plan something wonderfully awful.

Beetlejuice got his moment when he spotted Megan heading for the girl’s bathroom about an hour later. He snuck down the hall after her and fazed through the door. Normally he wouldn’t go so far to torment a kid—or teen—but this was personal. Megan was the only one there, luckily, and she’d chosen the next to last stall. Beetlejuice grinned and hopped up onto the counter by the sink. He tossed out his previous plan for the shiny new idea that had sprung up.

“Red paper or blue paper?” he asked, throwing his voice so it sounded as though someone was whispering in her ear.

_ “Wha!?”_ Megan’s startled voiced echoed through the bathroom. “Who’s there?”

“Red paper or blue paper?” Beetlejuice repeated.

“This isn’t funny!” Megan snapped. She tried to get up, but Beetlejuice kept her pinned in place. “What the hell!”

“Red paper or blue paper?”

A noise of frustration and panic escaped her. “I don’t want either!” Megan shouted.

Beetlejuice smirked. He could work with that. With a snap of his fingers, a scream and a splash, Megan had her head shoved into the toilet bowl. Of course, he wasn’t looking to murder her, so after a moment he let her go.

Megan burst from the stall and ran out of the bathroom, soaked in urine, screaming and crying. Beetlejuice couldn’t contain his laughter as he hurried out of the bathroom to watch her run away. That had been so worth it.

Beetlejuice floated over the covered bridge, expecting to see Lydia appear on the other side as she usually did. But she didn’t. He frowned and sunk to the ground, turning to see she had stopped in the middle of the bridge. Beetlejuice ambled over and looked around. He couldn’t see a reason for her to be sitting there, one leg on the ground to keep her propped up.

“I know you’re there, Beetlejuice,” Lydia said.

Well, he supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. Beetlejuice let the invisibility drop. “What gave it away?”

Lydia swung her other leg around and leaned her bike against the wall. “I didn’t know for sure at first. But Nate and his whole desk being shoved to the ground, that smell at lunch, and then Megan running through the halls, scremaing about ghosts in the bathroom? Kind of a giveaway.”

“Fair enough,” Beetlejuice replied.

“What exactly did you do to her?” Lydia asked, eyes narrowed.

Beetlejuice titled his head. “You seem mad.”

Lydia crossed her arms. “If you were trying to kill her, than yeah, I am. What did you _do?”_

“She was being a bitch to you,” Beetlejuice protested. When all she did was arch an eyebrow at him, he sighed. “I wasn’t gonna kill her, just maybe seriously injure… A buddy of mine from Japan told me about this whole shtick he’s got goin’ on. He hides out in the third stall from the end in public bathrooms, and when someone comes in he asks ‘em for red or blue paper. Or a red or blue cape, depending on his mood. But basically if the person answers red, he shreds ‘em—making ‘em red. And if they say blue, he chokes ‘em to death. And if they don’t answer with either, then he dunks their head in the toilet.”

“Oh my god...” Lydia shook her head, but there was the tiniest twitch of her lips that gave away that she was trying not to laugh. She controlled herself though. “How long have you been following me?”

“A couple days,” Beetlejuice said with a shrug, kicking at some sludge.

“You were that raccoon in our garbage, weren’t you?”

Beetlejuice grinned and scratched the back of his head. “I was hungry.”

Lydia sighed and got back on her bike. “Alright, I guess you’d better come with me. I doubt you’re gonna stop following me around anyway.”

* * *

“I’m home!” Lydia’s voice carried into the living room, where Adam and Barbara had been working on a crossword puzzle together.

Adam removed his glasses and set them on the side table. “Welcome back,” he said, standing.

Barbara got up as well, smiling. “How was your—”

Lydia was standing just in the doorway, backpack slung over one shoulder. That was normal. What wasn’t normal was the fact that Beetlejuice was standing beside her.

“Hey, A-dog, B-town, lookin’ good,” Beetlejuice said with a lopsided grin. It didn’t reach his eyes, which kept glancing down to the floor and back again.

“…Lydia? You, uh, you’re aware Beetlejuice is beside you, right?” Adam asked, eyes wide.

Lydia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know,” she said. “He’s been hanging out outside for a few days. I realized he was here earlier, so I figured he might as well show himself.”

Barbara’s brows rose. “He’s been stalking us?”

“I wouldn’t call it _that,”_ Beetlejuice muttered.

“Then what _would_ you call it?” Adam retorted, hands on his hips.

“Uhh… Observing from a safe distance?”

“Sounds like stalking to me,” Barbara said, crossing her arms.

Beetlejuice shook his head. “I wanted to pop in, say hi, but I figured you’d banish me as soon as I showed up.”

Adam shared a glance with Barbara. “We have every reason to. But we’re giving you a chance to explain yourself.” It was startling to say the least when Beetlejuice’s hair turned from it’s usual bright green to dark purple. Even his clothes got a purple tinge to them.

“I…” Beetlejuice’s gaze darted between them. “Guys, I’m _sorry, _okay? I really am.”

Lydia looked up at Adam and Barbara. “He did save my life after I literally murdered him,” she pointed out.

Beetlejuice nodded emphatically.

“That’s true, but, he tried to get you to exorcise me,” Barbara said. “It’s going to take a lot more than a sorry to forgive something like that. Words are easy to say, but if you don’t back it up, it doesn’t mean anything.”

“What do you want me to do, then?” Beetlejuice asked.

Barbara shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Adam hadn’t known what would happen if they ever saw Beetlejuice again. Now, though? It was a confusing mess of emotions that wanted to lash out. Beetlejuice had caused them so much trouble, and he’d nearly permanently killed Barbara. But he _had_ saved Lydia, when he had no reason to. And he was apologizing which, for someone like Beetlejuice, was hard to do.

“If you let me stick around, maybe I can figure something out?” Beetlejuice said, his eyes wide and cautiously hopeful.

“I think he should stay,” Lydia agreed, nodding. “Give him a chance.”

Adam could tell Barbara was reluctant. He wasn’t too sure himself.

“Please?”

Adam’s brows rose. Had Beetlejuice just begged?

Beetlejuice’s hair was an even darker shade of purple, bordering on blue. “I can prove that I mean it! I don’t have anywhere else to go. The Netherworld kicked me out.”

Barbara grabbed Adam’s shirt sleeve and pulled him to the side. “Adam… What do you think we should do?”

“I don’t know,” Adam admitted. “But… Part of me thinks we should give him a chance? Though, I think we should also get permission from Delia and Charles. This is their house, too.”

“Yes. Yes, that makes sense,” Barbara sighed, looking a little relieved. “If they think he should go, then he goes. If they think he should stay, then he can stay.”

Adam nodded, and they returned to Lydia and Beetlejuice. “You can stay until we hear otherwise from Delia and Charles. Charles will probably be back around seven, but I think Delia will be back sooner?”

“Mhm, she said she only had a couple of clients today,” Barbara said.

Beetlejuice stood up a little straighter. “So if they say it’s fine, I can stay?”

“Yes, but there will be rules,” Adam replied.

“No murdering.”

“You can’t injure us or others.”

“And you have to try not to destroy the house,” Barbara finished.

Beetlejuice nodded along. “I can do that!”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t destroy the place,” Lydia promised with a smile.

Adam chuckled. He couldn’t help it. It sounded like Lydia was trying to get them to agree to let her keep a pet. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We do still need to get Delia and Charles’ opinions.”

“Okay, well, until then...” Lydia turned to Beetlejuice. “You can help me with my history homework, since you thought it was fun to follow me to school.”

* * *

Delia set the bags of groceries on the island in the kitchen. “I swear these things get heavier every time,” she muttered.

“Delia?” Barbara leaned through the doorway.

“Hi, Barbara,” Delia greeted with a bright smile. “And Adam.”

Adam followed Barbara into the kitchen. “You went shopping?”

“Well, I thought we were running low on a few things, and I was near the store,” Delia replied with a shrug. “How has your day been?”

“Strange,” Barbara said.

“Unusual,” Adam agreed.

“Actually, there’s something we need to talk to you about.” Barbara leaned against the island. “Something important.”

Delia put the milk in the fridge and turned to give them her full attention. “Of course! What is it? How can I help?”

“At school today, Lydia might have… picked up a stray, so-to-speak,” Adam said.

Barbara giggled. “Adam,” she chided, slapping his arm. Barbara looked back at Delia. “What he means is, Beetlejuice is back.”

“Oh.” Delia blinked. She looked around, brows scrunched together. “He’s… here?”

“Yeah,” Adam replied. “He said he’s sorry for the trouble he caused, and he wants to make it up to us all.”

“We weren’t sure if we should let him stay. Lydia thinks so. But you and Charles have the true final say,” Barbara explained.

Delia hummed thoughtfully. “I see.” She smiled. “Well, I’ve always thought that everyone deserves a second chance. If Lydia forgives him, and he genuinely makes an effort, then I don’t mind.”

Adam’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yes. Though I can’t say I know how Charles will feel about this,” Delia said with a small sigh.

“So… You’re telling me you want to allow the demon that married Lydia and tried to kill us all… to live with us?” Charles asked, his eyes narrowed. He’d just gotten home from work when they’d sprung the news on him.

“Come on, Chuck, I said I was sorry,” Beetlejuice said. “And it was a _green card thing,_ I swear.”

“We just think he should get a chance to prove he’s sorry,” Delia explained.

Lydia nodded. “If he doesn’t follow the rules then he’ll have to leave.”

Charles looked at Adam and Barbara. “And you two are fine with this?”

“Well, we’re willing to give him a chance—if it’s alright with you,” Adam replied.

Beetlejuice gave Charles his best innocent face, eyes wide and mouth curled into a sweet smile. “I can be good,” he promised.

Charles frowned. “If you never make that face at me again, then fine.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love and support of this fic, everyone! I'm posting early because a friend bullied me into it. ;)   
So I hope you all enjoy!

Beetlejuice had agreed not to follow Lydia to school for a while. Apparently, despite her dislike of Megan, Lydia didn’t want him bothering her further. _Boring._ But he was trying to be on his best behavior, he’d even slept on the roof because he didn’t want to intrude on everyone’s space the night before. And that was after helping her with homework. Beetlejuice shuddered just thinking about it.

Except now the house was mostly empty. Lydia was at school, Chuck was at work, and Adam and Barbara had disappeared into some room on the second floor and firmly told him not to bother them. That left Delia. He didn’t know her, but it was better than sulking in a corner somewhere.

“Hey, Debby.”

“WAH!” Delia jumped, dropping some papers she’d been going through in the living room. She pressed a hand to her chest, turning to look at Beetlejuice.

It was hard not to laugh. While he hadn’t intended to scare her, her reaction was priceless. “Sorry,” he said, unable to hide the amusement from his voice.

Delia took a few deep, soothing breaths. “That’s alright,” she said, smiling shakily. “Did you want something, Beetlejuice?”

Beetlejuice shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know.” He hated second guessing himself. “Lydia said you’re into crystals and new age-y crap, yeah?”

“Aside from the phrasing, yes,” Delia said with a small laugh.

“Whatever. Look, I want to be… _better_… so Adam and Barbara will forgive me,” Beetlejuice said. Getting that out felt like pulling teeth—his own, not someone else’s; that was usually more amusing. “And I tried doing meditation, but it didn’t work. I don’t even know what it’s supposed to do.”

Delia’s smile grew. “Are you asking for my help?”

Beetlejuice grimaced. “…Yeah”

“Excellent!” Delia clapped her hands together once, before patting the spot beside her on the couch. “I’d love to help. I’ve never worked with a… _are_ you a ghost?”

“I'm a demon,” Beetlejuice replied, sitting beside her.

“Oh. I’ve never worked with a demon either,” Delia replied, undeterred. “Now, meditation is a wonderful exercise for calming your mind and connecting with your body and soul. Uh, so-to-speak. You just need to quiet your mind.”

Beetlejuice frowned. “I don’t get it.”

Delia tapped her chin with a pink fingernail. “Oh! Why don’t I coach you through it with some guided meditation?”

“The hell is that?” Beetlejuice just wanted something simple. Apparently that was never going to happen.

“You listen to my voice as I give you instructions on how to relax,” Delia explained. At his blank look, she sighed. “Why don’t we try it? It might be easier to understand by doing, rather than by me trying to describe it.”

That sounded better. Beetlejuice nodded. “Sure. What do I do?”

“One moment, please.” Delia stood and floated out of the room. As much as a living human could float, anyway. She returned moments later with a cellphone in her left hand and something else clutched in her right. Delia set the phone down, swiping through it until she found whatever it was she was looking for. “Here, take this.”

Beetlejuice looked at the amethyst she dropped into his palm. “A crystal?”

“Amethysts help with calming and meditation,” Delia replied.

“Huh.” Beetlejuice peered at the amethyst. “How?”

“Energy! You can hold onto it, or place it beside you while you meditate,” Delia said. “Now, you can either stay seated or you can lay down. Which ever makes you feel the most relaxed.”

Beetlejuice shrugged, holding the amethyst loosely in his hand. “Guess I’ll sit.”

Delia nodded. “Okay, now close your eyes.”

Once he’d done as she said, some quiet music started up. It was kind of weird, a little like flutes and synths or something, but not loud enough to be distracting.

“Breathe in deeply through your nose,” Delia instructed, voice soft. “Hold… Now breathe out through your mouth.”

Beetlejuice didn’t think he’d ever been aware of breathing before. Except maybe when he’d been alive. Normally breathing wasn’t required, being a demon and all.

“Alright, keep doing that. Just focus on your breaths. In and out,” Delia told him. “Release all tension from your brow… your jaw… neck… and all the way down to your toes.”

He’d had no idea how much tension he’d had in his body until he let it go. Beetlejuice couldn’t help but sigh. The breathing thing really was calming.

“Good, good. Just keep breathing,” Delia said. Though it couldn’t be seen, her smile could be heard. “Now… We’re going to go deeper into your subconscious. Imagine you’re standing at the top of a staircase.”

Beetlejuice tried to, though the stairs he imagined kind of looked like the ones to the attic. Was he supposed to think of stairs he knew? Or just random stairs? Maybe the stairs to the attic were too long. But what if they were too short? Beetlejuice frowned and his eyes snapped open. “I can’t do it...”

Delia smiled. “That’s alright, You did well for you’re first, or second, meditation,” she assured him. “Do you know what threw you off?”

“The stairs,” Beetlejuice replied with a small shrug. “Didn’t know if they were right. Then I couldn’t stop thinking.”

“Ah. That’s my bad, I could have given more detail. Some people like less, to let their imagination flow,” Delia said. She reached out and patted his hand. “But that’s alright, like I said you did so well. If you’d like to do it again sometime, maybe come up with a happy place in your mind.”

Beetlejuice tilted his head. _A happy place, huh?_ He supposed he could do that.

“But how do you feel otherwise?” Delia asked.

“Uh…” Beetlejuice blinked. Thinking about it, he felt pretty good. Relaxed. He grinned. “I feel great!”

“Wonderful!” Delia laughed.

“So, uh, I don’t suppose you know how I could get Adam and Barbara to forgive me?” Beetlejuice asked, rolling the amethyst around in his palm.

Delia smiled sympathetically. “Well, you can’t force it. But you could always try doing something nice for them? Something they’d like.”

Beetlejuice grimaced. “But I don’t know what they’d like. What if I fuck it up?”

“You just have to try,” Delia replied. “Even if it’s not quite right, it’s the thought that counts.”

That made sense. Relief relaxed Beetlejuice’s shoulders. Before he could think better of it, he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Delia. “Thanks, Delia!”

“Oh!” Delia gasped. She gave his back a couple of pats. “You’re welcome. Also, please keep the crystal. I think it’ll be good for you.”

Beetlejuice let go and stood up. “Sure, if you say so. I’ll go find a good spot for it.” Whether the crystal really helped or not, he’d never gotten a gift before, and there was no way he was going to toss it. Not that he’d admit to something so sentimental.

He popped into the attic and looked around. By the couch was a simple side table; it was already pretty full of books and nick-knacks, but there was some space left. Beetlejuice set the little amethyst down in the empty space and smiled. Perfect.

Turning, Beetlejuice looked around the rest of the attic. Adam and Barbara weren’t there, so it was the opportune moment to snoop. However, what caught his attention first, was a table set up near the back, in place of the mannequin that had been there before. He wandered over and looked down at the tiny buildings set up on it.

There weren’t many. Just three of what looked like stores, a little red wooden bridge, and a miniature replica of the house. Beetlejuice tilted his head. They were making a small model of the town. Weird.

The door to the attic swung open.

“Oh. Beetlejuice? What are you doing?” Barbara asked. Adam appeared beside her a second later.

“Nothing!” Beetlejuice backed away from the table. “I was just looking. The, uh, tiny town wasn’t here last time...”

Adam walked over and looked at the models. “That’s because I just started this a couple months ago. I’d always found model towns so interesting, and then I realized I could try to make one myself,” he said with a smile. It faded quickly. “Unfortunately, I’ve run out of supplies. And I’d feel bad asking Delia or Charles to spend their hard earned money on a silly hobby.”

“It’s not silly,” Barbara said, kissing his cheek.

Beetlejuice tilted his head, then looked back at the town. “What kinda stuff do you need?”

“Huh? Well… I’d been using some basswood that I’d had left over from a project I’d started when I was alive,” Adam replied. He knelt on the floor and reached under the table, pulling out a few squares of beige wood. “Like this. But there isn’t enough to finish the whole town. And having done some research I not only need special paints, but could use something called paper clay? It’s a lot.”

“I have no idea what those other things are, but...” Beetlejuice pointed at the floor beside the wood. A stack of basswood appeared beside the small one Adam had.

“Wow!” Barbara gasped.

Adam poked at the wood. “It’s real...”

Beetlejuice rolled his eyes. “Seriously, this is what impresses you guys? After everything else I’ve been able to do?”

Barbara rested a finger against her chin. “Do you think _we_ could do that? Make things out of thin air?” Her brows furrowed. “That is what you did, right?”

“Sure, you can definitely do that, it’s not hard,” Beetlejuice said. “You just gotta know exactly what it is you want.”

Adam stood. “I don’t even know what to try for.”

“I’ve got something!” Barbara held out her hand and scrunched her eyes shut. Adam and Beetlejuice watched and waited. An orange appeared in her hand. Barbara’s eyes snapped open. “Ah! I did it!”

“Amazing!” Adam praised, giving her a kiss.

“Why an orange?” Beetlejuice asked, squinting at it.

Barbara shrugged. “I like oranges,” she replied. Her face fell. “At least… I used to… We can’t eat it now, though. Wait!” Barbara smiled at Beetlejuice. “You can eat, right? You can have it if you want.”

Beetlejuice took the orange. He wasn’t in the habit of eating fruit. But Barbara was actually smiling at him. “Okay.” Beetlejuice shoved the whole thing into his mouth. It was kind of bitter, but mostly sweet. Honestly, he didn’t think it was too bad.

Adam stared, doing his best impression of a fish with the way his mouth kept opening and closing. Finally he said, “You… You aren’t supposed to eat the peel.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not exactly good for you,” Barbara said.

“I eat bugs on a regular basis. When I was a kid I ate a whole sack of potatoes once, burlap sack and all,” Beetlejuice replied, picking some peel and pith out of his teeth.

“You were a kid?” Adam asked.

“Wait, why would you even eat those things?” Barbara frowned, though it didn’t appear to be out of anger. “Is that a demon thing?”

Beetlejuice shrugged. “Don’t know. But I was hungry, and _mom_ definitely wasn’t gonna get me food, so I just ate whatever.”

Adam and Barbara stared at him with wide, horrified eyes.

“What?” Beetlejuice wiped at his face. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No, just, that’s so sad,” Barbara whispered.

“Though, I guess the whole killing her by sandworm thing makes more sense now,” Adam muttered.

Beetlejuice shifted back and forth on his feet. He wasn’t used to people reacting like that to the things he said about his mom. “Uh, well, anyway...” Beetlejuice darted past them. “I thought I heard the front door. Maybe Lydia’s back!”

Adam and Barbara followed him from the attic, and all three stopped on the landing.

Delia looked up from where she was placing some aquamarine on the coffee table. “Is everything alright?”

“Delia, what are you doing?” Barbara asked, looking around at all the crystals and stones placed strategically around the living and dining room.

“I’m glad you asked!” Delia flitted about the room, pointing out each crystal and stone. “We have amethyst and aquamarine for their calming effects and aquamarine is also great for courage, and bringing closure to unresolved issues. Oh! And here we have some angelite for clear and compassionate communication, isn’t that wonderful? Blue Lace Agate is for _opening_ and _expanding_ your consciousness. And it can also promote harmony and understanding. Then we have some citrine for happiness, hope, and self-esteem.”

All of that went in one ear and straight out the other for Beetlejuice.

“That sounds very nice, but why?” Adam asked, heading down the final few stairs to look at one of the crystals.

“Well, considering how _interesting_ our shared history is, I felt we could all use a little help being better to each other and to ourselves,” Delia replied with a serene smile. “Which reminds me...” She grabbed Beetlejuice’s hand and pressed a little yellow-green crystal into it. “Apophyllite! Not only did it remind me of your hair, it’s good for releasing repressed emotions.”

Beetlejuice blinked. Two gifts in one day? He wasn’t sure how to respond. It felt like there was something lodged in his throat. “Thanks,” he finally croaked out.

* * *

“So, it’s been a day, and the house is still standing,” Charles remarked as they sat for dinner. “Lydia, how was school?”

Lydia shrugged and twirled her spaghetti around her fork. “Fine. Boring.”

“Did you learn anything interesting?” Delia asked.

“Nope,” Lydia replied, popping the P. She looked over at Adam and Barbara, who had joined the family for dinner, even though they couldn’t eat. They had cooked for them, since they figured they had the time to. “Was it at least fun here?”

Barbara laughed. “I guess it depends on your definition of fun.”

“Beetlejuice taught us how to do this,” Adam said, holding out his hand. After a second or two, a paintbrush appeared in it. “Ha! It worked this time.”

Lydia’s eyes widened. “Whoa! Can you do that with anything?”

“I’m sure there’s limits, but we don’t know,” Barbara replied.

“We’ll have to ask at some point,” Adam added with a nod.

Adam looked back at Barbara as they climbed the stairs to the attic. “You think he’s up here?”

“Probably,” Barbara said. “That or the roof. Lydia said he likes it up there.”

“Why do you think he didn’t join us all for dinner?” Adam stopped at the top of the stairs. “Out of the three of us, he actually does eat.”

Barbara shook her head. “I don’t know.”

They opened the door and stepped into the attic. Adam froze. “Oh.”

“I didn’t know he needed to sleep,” Barbara whispered.

Beetlejuice was collapsed on the couch, one arm and leg hanging off the edge, and snoring so loudly it was a wonder they hadn’t heard him on their way up. Though the creaky stairs could have been to blame.

Barbara smiled. “That’s strangely cute.” She grabbed a spare blanket from one of the trunks and draped it over him, before she and Adam left the attic to go to their own room.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of you are seriously the best! Thank you so much for reading this!

Barbara hummed quietly to herself as she moved the terracotta plant pots around the attic to exactly where she wanted them. “There we go!”

“What are you doing?” Beetlejuice asked, leaning forward in his seat on the couch.

“Making sure my plants will get enough sunlight,” Barbara said.

Beetlejuice’s brows furrowed. “I don’t see any plants.”

Barbara laughed. “They aren’t grown yet. I’ll be planting the seeds soon, though.” She set her hands on her hips. “Then we’ll have geraniums, sweet peas, spider plants, and… Oh! Maybe some succulents.”

It was so hard not to make a comment. Beetlejuice had to bite his lip to stop himself.

“Oh, and I’ll definitely have to grow some basil, thyme, oregano, and some rosemary in the kitchen,” Barbara continued, oblivious.

“Darn, I still can’t get it,” Adam sighed. He was standing by the table with his model town.

“What?” Barbara asked.

Adam shook his head. “The paint. It’s just not coming to me.”

“Uh, I was lookin’ around earlier, this is the paint you need?” Beetlejuice asked, bottles of paint appearing clutched in his arms.

“Yes! Those exactly,” Adam replied with a bright smile. “I guess I’m not too good at this whole thing yet.”

Beetlejuice shrugged and dumped the paint by the wood. “I don’t mind. It gives me something to do, for about half a second.”

“You know...” Adam picked up one of the pieces of basswood and turned it around in his hands. “You could always help me build the models? It could be fun.”

“Wait, you actually want_ me_ to _help?”_ Beetlejuice asked, pointing a finger at himself as if to drive the point home even more.

Adam nodded and smiled again. “If you want to.”

Why did he have to be so adorable? Beetlejuice couldn’t turn down that smile. _Damn, I’m getting soft,_ he thought. “Yeah, sure, I guess,” Beetlejuice replied, looking away.

“Whoa, is your hair pink?” Adam asked, eyes wide.

Beetlejuice’s hands went to his hair. “What? No! _You_ have pink hair!” he retorted, panicked. Before either Adam or Barbara could respond, he sunk through the floor with a, “Later!”

He stood in the second floor hallway and looked around. Lydia’s door was open a crack. Beetlejuice peered in and saw she was sitting on her bed, looking at Polaroids.

Lydia looked up. “Oh, hey, Beetlejuice.”

“Whatcha doin’?” Beetlejuice asked, entering the room. Despite it being the middle of the day, the room was dark due to the purple curtains drawn over the windows. The walls had been painted black, and they’d been decked out in posters of various goth and emo bands. A bird skull in a jar sat beside a bunch of books on a shelf above a desk. By the bed was the mannequin from the attic, except it had Lydia’s mourning hat on it.

“It’s kind of weird to explain,” Lydia replied with a shrug as he leaned over to look at the pictures.

Beetlejuice snorted and dropped onto the foot of her bed. “Really? You think I care about weird?”

Lydia laughed. “Good point.” She turned some of the pictures around. “I’ve been going around town, taking pictures of local ghosts. I thought… I thought it would help them. Let them know they haven’t been forgotten.”

Beetlejuice didn’t know what to say to that. It tugged at his (possibly) non-existent heartstrings, that was for sure. He picked up one of the pictures. “Oh, whoa, hey I know this guy!”

“Really?” Lydia craned her neck to try and see it.

“Yep. I used to scare the crap out of him!” Beetlejuice said with a laugh. “He was kinda like you. He could see ghosts, I mean. That guy was a total wimp!”

Lydia tilted her head. “From the way you acted, I thought I was the first living human to see you.”

Beetlejuice shrugged. “Just the first one in, like, a hundred years. This guy I met in… uh… 1840 something. Or close to that. But yeah, it’s been a while.” He set the picture down. “Especially meeting someone who wasn’t scared of me.”

“Oh…” Lydia sorted through her pictures again. She smirked and looked back up at him. “You know… I was also thinking it could be fun to see if any of these ghosts wanted help scaring humans from their places. You wanna do that with me?”

“Hell yeah!” Beetlejuice couldn’t help but float a little off the bed as he punched the air. “Now that’s a great idea! When do we start?”

Lydia hummed in thought. “I guess we could start now?”

Beetlejuice beamed. “Yeah! Okay, let’s go!” He jumped up and whirled around. “Hurry up!”

“Wow, okay, relax,” Lydia said, scooping up her photos. She grabbed a small black bag and slipped them inside, and plucked her camera from her desk. “Now we can go.”

* * *

“Who should we talk to first?” Lydia asked as she biked down the road.

Beetlejuice, now in the form of a crow, swooped over her head. “Well, were any of ‘em actually trying to scare people?”

Lydia glanced up at him. “Yeah. There was one lady by an old stone bridge. She seemed pissed off at the living sitting on it or taking selfies there.” She frowned a little. “Which makes me confused. Adam and Barbara can’t leave the house, so how can there be ghosts outside? Can they go anywhere they want?”

“I’m gonna be honest with ya, kid,” Beetlejuice said, flying beside her, “the whole haunting thing is random. It explains that in the handbook. But from what I’ve seen, it’s usually that humans who died outside have a set area they’ll be in. Sometimes it’s a bigger area, sometimes it’s smaller.”

“Weird,” Lydia muttered.

They made their way down a dirt road and over to the stone bridge which crossed a little river. Seeing that no breathers were around, Beetlejuice changed back into his normal form.

A young woman peered out from under the bridge. Her long, wavy, auburn hair and calf-length red dress were soaked, and her lips had a slight blue tinge to them. Rope marks were faint against her wrists and ankles. She glared at them both. “Oh. This girl again,” she muttered to herself, dark brown eyes narrowing. Until she caught sight of Beetlejuice. They widened and the woman took a few steps back.

“Don’t be scared, he’s here with me,” Lydia said.

The woman looked at Lydia again, even more shocked. “You can see me?” She frowned. “You’re alive. But him… What are you?”

Beetlejuice grinned, showing off his fangs. “Demon.”

“Oh!” The woman crossed her chest, hand trembling. “Please don’t drag me to hell!”

“Whoa, calm down, I’m not dragging anyone anywhere,” Beetlejuice said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, we just wanted to talk,” Lydia added. “I felt kind of bad just taking your picture without talking to you. I’m Lydia, by the way.”

“And I’m the Ghost With The Most: Beetlejuice!” Beetlejuice said, flinging his arms out wide.

The woman eyed him with suspicion, but nodded. “Margaret,” she replied. Margaret crossed her arms and frowned at Lydia. “You’re _friends_ with a demon?”

Lydia smiled. “Yeah?”

“Yeah we are!” Beetlejuice agreed, slinging his arm around Lydia’s shoulders. “BFFFFs forever!” He grimaced and looked off into the middle distance. “I mean, wouldn't it be so weird if there were a bunch of people who thought a child and an adult being together was okay? That'd be super fucked up!”

Lydia looked at him funny. “It would… yeah… Who are you talking to?”

“Huh? Nothing, forget it,” Beetlejuice replied with a shrug.

“Okaayyy…” Lydia returned her attention to Margaret. “So, anyway, I’d noticed you were trying to scare breathers away. I thought Beej and I could help you out.”

Margaret tilted her head and pursed her lips. “Hmm… I would just really like some peace and quiet. But people keep showing up with those small, strange cameras. It’s nearly every day,” she replied. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, but it’d be nice if they would go away for a little while.”

“We can do that,” Lydia said. She raised an eyebrow at Beetlejuice. “Right? We can do this _without_ hurting someone?”

Beetlejuice gave a loud, drawn out sigh. “Fiiine, but it’ll be more boring that way.”

Lydia snickered. “No, it just means we’ll have to get creative.”

“Oh, well, in that case…” Beetlejuice clapped his hands together. “Let’s get working!”

“Okay, so on my signal, you two will do your thing,” Lydia said, leaning over the bridge to look at them. “Don’t mess it up.”

“We got this,” Beetlejuice said, waving her off.

Margaret bit her lip. “Are you sure this will work? No-one’s been able to see me before.”

“That’s ‘cause you didn’t have me helping you,” Beetlejuice replied with a grin. He sat with Margaret under the bridge to wait; though they didn’t have to wait long.

A young couple wandered up onto the bridge where Lydia was pretending to take her own pictures. She turned to see them trying to take a selfie together. “Whoa! What was that?” Lydia exclaimed, pointing behind them.

The couple gave her a weird look, but turned.

Margaret stood at the end of the bridge, bent to the side, dripping hair hanging over her face and leaving only one eye visible.

“Chris, do you see anything?” the young woman asked.

“I… I thought I saw something move, but I don’t know,” Chris replied.

Lydia gave a dramatic scream and ran, causing the couple to turn. As soon as she rounded a bend in the path, she darted behind some bushes.

Beetlejuice, who now looked exactly like Margaret, stood at the other end of the bridge.

“What the hell?” Chris muttered. “Riley, did you see where this lady came from?”

“No...” Riley said. “But I guess she freaked that goth girl out.”

“Get… off… my… bridge...” Beetlejuice croaked, water spilling from his mouth. He took a staggering step towards them.

Riley frowned. “Lady, this is a public bridge,” she said, though she sounded a little uncertain. Turning to speak to Chris, something caught her eye. Riley turned and yelped. “What the fuck!? There’s two!?”

Margaret lurched along the bridge. “Go… away!”

Chris and Riley looked back and forth between the two Margarets. “This is fucking nuts...” Chris said.

“Leave!” Margaret shouted.

Riley tugged at Chris’ sleeve. “Let’s go, this is weird.”

“Nah, this has to be some kind of prank. It’s not real,” Chris replied, shaking his head.

The wind roared to life, whipping their hair around. Beetlejuice made his eyes go black and he appeared directly in front of Chris. He grabbed him by the front of his polo and yanked him into the air. “Does this feel like a prank?” he growled.

“Chris!” Riley screamed.

Beetlejuice reigned himself back in, remembering he wasn’t supposed to murder or maim these people. But he still had some fun tricks up his sleeve. Beetlejuice dropped Chris to the bridge and unhinged his jaw. Chris screamed as Beetlejuice threw up water and sludge, splattering him and Riley both.

Margaret let loose a snarl of her own. The couple sprinted past Beetlejuice and off the bridge, screaming bloody murder the whole way.

When Lydia finally returned to the bridge, she was laughing. “Oh man, that was so good!” She gave Beetlejuice a high-five.

“Yeah it was!” he agreed, grinning from ear to ear as he returned to his usual self. Beetlejuice turned his grin on Margaret. “It’ll be a good long time before those breathers come back. Hopefully they’ll spread the word.”

“I hope so,” Margaret sighed.

Lydia pulled a photo from her backpack. The photo she’d taken of Margaret. She also took out a pen, and scribbled Margaret’s name onto the back of it. “There,” she said, looking up at her. “Now you won’t be forgotten.”

For the first time since they’d met her, Margaret smiled. She covered her mouth with her hand, blinking back tears. “That… Oh wow… Thank you.” Margaret let her hand drop. “You know? I don’t think I’d mind if you two wanted to hang again sometime.”

Lydia smiled back. “Sure, that’d be fun.”

As Beetlejuice—invisible this time—followed Lydia back to the town, an idea struck. “Hey, Lyds! Stop a second!” he called, turning visible again. There were no cars going by so he didn’t worry about being seen.

Lydia stopped her bike and looked up at him. “What is it?”

“Can I borrow your camera?” Beetlejuice asked, touching down beside her. He held out his hands.

“If you promise not to break it,” Lydia said.

“Cross my heart and hope to be brought to life and killed a second time,” Beetlejuice replied.

Lydia shook her head, but took the camera from around her neck and placed it in his hands. “Okay, then.”

Beetlejuice shot into the air, turning invisible again as he did. The camera wouldn’t be, but he hoped that since he’d be so far up people wouldn’t notice. They’d just think it was a UFO if they did, anyway. Beetlejuice stopped and floated in mid air once he had a good view of the whole town. He nodded to himself, and snapped a picture. The photo came out of the front and Beetlejuice snatched it up, shaking it to help it develop faster. Once the picture was clear, he beamed. It was exactly what he’d hoped for. Beetlejuice pocketed it and returned to Lydia. “Here ya go, good as new. Or when you gave it to me.”

Lydia huffed in amusement and put the camera back around her neck. “You wanna tell me what that was about?”

“On the way back,” Beetlejuice replied.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still so surprised and happy to see just how many people are enjoying this story! Thank you all so much, and I hope you like this next chapter.

“No, I think the general store was a little bigger than that,” Barbara said, peering at Adam’s work in progress. “Just a little bit. They expanded when Joe’s went out of business, remember?”

Adam laughed. “You’re right! I can’t believe I forgot.” He kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”

Beetlejuice pushed open the door fully. “Hey you two!” he greeted, clasping his hands behind his back. “Working on that town thing?”

“Yes, actually,” Adam replied with a small smile. “Barbara was just making sure I got the dimensions right.”

Barbara nodded. “I figured I could help with that at least. I’m not too good with wood based crafts. Unless it’s painting.”

“Oh. Well, I might have something that could help,” Beetlejuice said, walking over. He held out the bird’s eye view photo of the town he’d taken.

Adam took the picture and stared down at it with wide eyes. “You took this?” he asked, looking back at Beetlejuice.

“Yep!” Beetlejuice said, grinning and bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I’m not as good as Lydia, but I thought maybe it’d be helpful. Since you can’t leave the house and all. I took it when me and Lydia hung out yesterday.”

“No! This is really clear,” Adam said with a wide, toothy smile.

“This was surprisingly sweet of you,” Barbara added, smiling as well. She leaned over to look at the picture. “You got a really good shot.”

Beetlejuice wanted to go over and hug them both, but he stopped himself. They’d been uncomfortable with him getting physical in the past, and he’d been trying his best to respect that, but it was also super hard with them being so cute and sexy. “Yeah?”

“Mhm.” Barbara flashed him another smile.

“You can even see the graveyard in this picture,” Adam said, tone awed. “Look, see?”

“Oh yeah,” Barbara agreed. Her smile faded. “Adam… We don’t know where we’re buried.”

Adam slowly looked at her. “We don’t… The Deetz held a funeral for us, but I have no idea what happened to our bodies.”

_ Oh crap,_ Beetlejuice thought. He hadn’t wanted to make them sad. “Uh, guys?” Beetlejuice tried to think of something to say. Then something came to him. “What if I could help you leave the house?”

Barbara blinked at him. “What do you mean?” she asked, wiping at the tears that had slipped down her cheeks.

“Can you actually help us leave?” Adam looked stunned.

“I don’t know,” Beetlejuice said, scratching at his hair. “I mean, I have an idea, but I don’t know if it’ll work.”

“What’s your idea?” Barbara’s brow furrowed and she tilted her head. “It doesn’t involve murder does it?”

Beetlejuice rolled his eyes. “Not _all _my plans involve murder, Barbara.” He gave them a half smile. “Look, I can leave the house all I want. _So,_ maybe if you hang onto me, it’ll be like a… what’s it called… loophole! That!”

Adam hummed thoughtfully.

“This sounds like an excuse to do something perverted,” Barbara remarked, crossing her arms.

“I don’t know, I think he’s being serious,” Adam said.

“I am! Being serious, I mean,” Beetlejuice insisted. “If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. The worst thing that’ll happen is you’ll end up on Saturn for a little bit. But I think it’s something to try?”

Barbara looked to Adam who nodded.

“I think we should try.”

Sighing, Barbara nodded back. “Okay.” She turned to Beetlejuice. “We’ll try your idea.”

Beetlejuice grinned. “Great!” He led the way downstairs and to the front door. Opening it, he turned to face Adam and Barbara. Beetlejuice held out his hands.

Barbara took an unneeded breath and placed her hand in his left, while Adam gripped his right. “We can do this!” she said, pumping herself up.

“Yeah, we can!” Adam agreed, though he sounded a little less sure.

“Okay, so just hold on tight,” Beetlejuice said. Once they nodded, he stepped outside. The world swayed around them, distorting. Adam and Barbara gasped. Beetlejuice grit his teeth and squeezed their hands tighter. With an internal pull, the world righted itself again.

“Barbara… we’re outside.” Adam took a few steps along the porch, keeping hold of Beetlejuice’s hand.

_ “We’re outside,”_ Barbara echoed, pulling them to the steps.

“On the porch, but yeah, outside,” Beetlejuice agreed, catching his breath. “Let’s try a little more! Come on!” He bounded down the stairs, practically dragging them down the driveway.

Barbara giggled, and once they came to a stop she turned her face up. “Adam, the sun!” She sighed, smiling. “I know we can see it from the house, but it’s so much nicer out here.”

“It is,” Adam chuckled, also looking up at the sun. “And it’s the perfect day, too. Blue skies, a few white clouds, and the snow is almost gone.”

Beetlejuice didn’t really care one way or another about the weather, but seeing them so happy was… nice. The way the sun highlighted the golden strands of Barbara’s hair blowing gently in the spring breeze, and the deep amber of Adam’s eyes which crinkled at the corners as he laughed. If anything, their smiles were much better than the sun.

Except he’d had a plan, and standing in the driveway staring at the sun wasn’t it. “Okay, okay, let’s go! We gotta figure out how far you can get away from the house.”

“Yeah!” Barbara grinned at both Beetlejuice and Adam. “Let’s see if we can make it to town!”

Adam nodded. “Okay!”

The trio managed to make it to the covered bridge before having to stop. Once again the world bent and twisted around them. The warping was even stronger, but Beetlejuice was determined to make the plan work. With a growl, he tugged Adam and Barbara onto the bridge, setting the world right once more.

“That makes me so dizzy,” Adam muttered, rubbing at his eyes with his free hand.

“Are you okay?” Barbara asked, reaching over to touch his arm.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Adam smiled at her, then looked to Beetlejuice. “I’m ready whenever you two are.”

Beetlejuice smirked. “Well, if you feel like fainting I’ll catch you, no problem.” He cackled at the blush that spread over Adam’s cheeks. Beetlejuice raised an eyebrow at Barbara. “You good, Babs?”

“I’m good,” Barbara replied, looking a little flustered herself at the nickname.

“Good.” Beetlejuice gripped their hands tighter and pulled them in close.

“Whoa!” Adam gasped. “What are you doing?”

Beetlejuice rolled his eyes. “I’m the only one visible, here. If I go walkin’ down the street with my arms swinging every which way, people will notice. Normally I don’t give a fuck, but I figured you two might. If you stick close, then it won’t look as weird.”

Barbara and Adam exchanged a look. “That makes sense,” she said after a moment.

“Great, now come on!” Beetlejuice urged, speed-walking across the bridge. Adam and Barbara had to almost jog to keep up. He led them into town, finally slowing down a little. Beetlejuice looked around, trying to match up what he remembered seeing from above with what he was seeing at street level.

“I wish we could visit the library,” Adam said, looking down the street to a little brick building. He laughed. “But I’d be too tempted to flip through all the books.”

Barbara nodded, giggling. “That would raise a lot of questions, seeing floating books.” Her eyes widened. “Oh! But it’s almost May. River Road Farm will be opening soon, and we can go see the flowers!”

“That’s right!” Adam agreed. He faltered, and looked at Beetlejuice. “If you don’t mind, that is? This seems like it’s taking a lot of effort on your part.”

“Eh, sure, I don’t mind,” Beetlejuice said with a shrug. He didn’t particularly care about the flowers, but he was enjoying making Adam and Barbara happy. And once he got them through those weird spots it wasn’t too hard to keep them all in the world of the living. “But right now, let’s go this way.”

Adam and Barbara let him lead them along a side street and onto a dirt road. They made their way up a little hill to an old stone wall, the entrance to Winter River Cemetery. As soon as they stepped past the wall, they froze. Beetlejuice had expected the world to warp again in an attempt to pull them to Saturn. But it didn’t. In fact, it felt a lot easier to keep the connection to the living world.

“Beetlejuice? What’s going on?” Barbara asked. Though she held onto his hand, she pulled back a little.

“You’ll see,” Beetlejuice replied, giving her hand a gentle tug. “Just a little farther?”

“We’ve come this far,” Adam pointed out.

Barbara sighed. “Okay.”

Relieved, Beetlejuice led them through the cemetery, winding along the faint dirt paths where grass was sprouting up. “M… M… M…” he mumbled, searching the headstones. And then he found it. Beetlejuice stopped and looked at Adam and Barbara. “We’re here.”

“This is...” Barbara hesitated before walking closer.

“Our grave,” Adam murmured, standing beside her.

The headstone was simple and smooth, the afternoon sun gleaming off the top. Adam and Barbara’s names, and their birthdays and death days were inscribed into the front, along with a simple epitaph.

_Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality._

Their hands trembled in Beetlejuice’s grasp. Barbara’s breath came out shaky. “Oh, Adam.” Adam wrapped an arm around her, and she buried her face in his chest. He rested his cheek on her head, looking down at the headstone.

Beetlejuice blinked. _Wait, no, I didn’t wanna make ‘em sad,_ he thought. He’d fucked up. He’d really fucked up. Beetlejuice had hoped that since they hadn’t known where they were buried, that knowing was something that would make them happy. He didn’t know what to say. Could he even say anything that would make it better? “Fuck, guys, I’m… I thought this was something you’d want.”

Barbara lifted her head. “Oh, no, this…” She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. Barbara squeezed his hand. “This was thoughtful of you, thank you.”

"Yes, thank you,” Adam said with a watery smile. “It’s just overwhelming. But we’re glad you brought us here.”

“Oh.” Beetlejuice sighed in relief. “Okay, uh, good.”

Barbara smiled, then looked back at the grave. “I don’t suppose you know who left the flowers, though?” A few clipped flowers, geraniums and daffodils, lay on the cleared ground in front of the headstone.

Beetlejuice grinned. “Yeah, Lydia did. She said she’d been doing that. Leaving flowers for you guys. Even though she knows you and all, she thought it’d be nice or whatever.”

“She really is a sweet girl,” Barbara said, smiling softly. She looked up at Beetlejuice. “Thank you again.”

“Yeah… No problem,” Beeltejuice replied, looking away. He wasn’t used to people thanking him. Or appreciating him. It was weird, but it felt good too. Beetlejuice smiled back at them. “We can do this again, if ya want. Just let me know.”

“You know… I was thinking…” Adam said as they entered the house, “maybe you should join us for dinner tonight?”

Barbara nodded. “Yes! That’s a great idea. You should.” She and Adam let go of Beetlejuice’s hands. “Honestly, I’ve been wondering why you haven’t already. Have you been eating _anything?”_

Beetlejuice shrugged. “Yeah. Actually there was this tarantula crawling on the model town last night. Pretty tasty, but not really enough, so I made myself a sandwich. Then I noticed there was a huge bunch of spinach that’d been thrown away, which, what waste! It was only slightly moldy! Anyway, so I had that too.”

“Well, that explains why the food has been disappearing so fast.” Delia rounded the corner, a new art piece in her hands. “I thought I was going crazy.”

“I mean...” An elbow to the side stopped Beetlejuice from continuing that thought. Barbara gave him a look. “Sorry. Should’ve said something.”

Delia shook her head, giving a little laugh. “No, it’s fine, you live here, too. Though, if you’re going to be joining us for dinner, I think it’d be best if you washed your hands first. And brushed your teeth.”

* * *

“So the Yard started beating on the doors, tryin’ to get in right? A lady’s on fire, people’re screamin’, and I’m stuck as a giant snake, high off my ass on opium,” Beetlejuice said through a mouthful of a salmon and potatoes. He gulped his bite down. “And that’s why you should never bring an emu into an opera hall.”

Lydia bit her cheek to keep from laughing, but a snort escaped her anyway. Beetlejuice grinned. Until he saw Charles’ unconcealed disgust, Delia’s wide eyes—one of which twitched ever so slightly, and Adam and Barbara’s polite but strained smiles.

He’d done something wrong, he knew it. What it was, though, he didn’t know. Beetlejuice had washed his hands and brushed his teeth like Delia made him, so that couldn’t have been it. But maybe his regular odor was too much for everyone? Then again, they probably didn’t appreciate his stories. Or was it something else? Was it _everything?_

His fork clattered to the plate, and Beetlejuice stood. He wasn’t dinner guest material, he never would be, and he didn’t really care to be. Joining them had been a mistake.

“Beetle—”

Before Barbara could say anything, Beetlejuice rose up through the ceiling and out of the dining room. He didn’t stop until he reached the roof. Grumbling, he kicked at a loose shingle, sending it crashing to the ground below much like he himself had done. Beetlejuice sat on the railing and sighed, looking up at the stars. It was a new moon, so the stars and the faint glow from a downstairs window were the only lights.

“Thought I’d find you here.” Lydia swung her legs over the railing to sit beside him. “Especially since you went all purple on us.”

Beetlejuice raised an eyebrow at her. She pointed at his hair. He groaned and dropped his head into his hands. “Stupid thing keeps giving me away. I swear it never changed this much before, dammit.”

“Do you think it has something to do with the fact you were alive for a minute?” Lydia asked, kicking her feet against the railing.

“I don’t know. Maybe?” Beetlejuice hadn’t thought about that, but it made a kind of sense.

Lydia tilted her head. “Why’d you run away from dinner? Not that I can blame you, if it wasn’t for Adam and Barbara I’d probably do the same.”

Beetlejuice plucked at a thread from his pants. “I don’t know what I did, but I pissed everyone off. Usually if I piss people off it’s on purpose.” He frowned. “You breathers have a bunch of weird rules about things. I’m trying to be good… but I guess that’s just not me.”

“What are you talking about? You have been.” Lydia shook her head. “I mean, we’re not expecting you to not be yourself. You’re rude, and gross, and fun! Dad’s just stuck up, but Delia’s been getting better with me, and with you if what she told me is true. Ignore them. I do, sometimes. Most of the time.”

“You been reading Delia’s life coaching books?” Beetlejuice asked with a smirk.

“Shut up!” Lydia smacked his arm. “No! I’m talking from experience. But if you’re gonna say things like that, then I’ll never try to cheer you up again.”

“Sure you won’t, kid.”

Lydia stuck her tongue out at him, and Beetlejuice responded in kind. They both broke, busting out laughing. She stood and hopped back down onto the safe side of the roof. “Hey, why don’t you come with me to school tomorrow?”

“You mean it?” Beetlejuice asked, eyes wide.

“As long as you don’t hurt anyone, sure,” Lydia said, heading for the attic window.

“Promise!” Beetlejuice bounced into the air and landed beside her. “I can still mess with people, right?”

“Hell _yeah__.”_

“Hell yeah!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: The epitaph is a quote from Dickinson.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a burst of writing energy, so here's the next chapter! Your kind comments and kudos fuel me! :D

Beetlejuice leaned over Lydia’s shoulder, invisible to everyone. “The hell is with all these letters? I thought this was math?”

“It is,” Lydia whispered, jotting down the notes from the white board.

“If you say so,” Beetlejuice replied. He’d made sure his voice could only be heard by Lydia, so he didn’t bother to keep quiet. “School’s so boring. How do you do this _every week?”_

Lydia gave a quiet huff. “This feels like some twisted version of The Fairly Odd Parents,” she muttered to herself.

“Huh? What’s that?”

“Some stupid show I watched when I was a kid,” Lydia said.

“Lydia,” the teacher’s voice carried through the room, “do you have something you’d like to share with the class?”

Lydia flinched. “No, Ms. Kaufman.”

“Then please be quiet,” Ms. Kaufman said with a raised eyebrow. Once Lydia nodded, she went back to the lesson. A couple of kids closest to Lydia snickered, and she sent a discrete glare at Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice shrugged. He floated into the air and drifted over the desks. It was good to see that, despite the few who laughed at her for getting in trouble, nobody appeared to be messing with Lydia. Megan and what’s-her-face had been avoiding her like the plague all morning. Nobody harassed her at her locker, either. So while he’d promised he wouldn’t hurt anyone, Beetlejuice couldn’t find it in himself to be sorry for what he’d done to them before.

When the students were let out of class and Beetlejuice learned Lydia had science next, he groaned and prepared to be bored even longer. Until they got to the classroom and he saw the dead frogs lined up on all the tables.

“Hey, Beej,” Lydia whispered, using the scraping and clacking of stools being dragged across the floor to mask her voice.

_ “Ye__ee__a__aa__h?”_ Beetlejuice asked with a smirk.

“Think you could have some fun here and get us out of dissection?” Lydia looked down at the frog splayed out on her tray and her nose wrinkled. Whether it was from the smell of formaldehyde or just disgust at dissecting a frog, Beetlejuice couldn’t tell.

“Aww, really? I was looking forward to seeing some kid puke. Or faint. I’m good with either,” he said, pouting.

Lydia shot him a pleading look—despite him being invisible to her as well—as she bent to pull her notebook from her bag.

“Fiiiineee,” Beetlejuice whined. “Let me think of something.”

“Alright, everyone, now that I have your homework, I want you all to get out your lab papers,” Mr. Howard said, moving to stand by the table closest to the front of the room where four students sat with their frogs. He moved a fifth tray to the edge of the table so everyone could see. “I’ll give a demonstration for the first incision, then you’ll all do your own.”

All the students gathered around the table, though Lydia stayed near the back with a few others. Mr. Howard picked up the scalpel. “First, we want to make a cut here.”

The frog twitched, and sat upright. Its limbs jerked, puppet like, as it climbed off the tray and stood on the table on it’s hind legs. All the lights but the ones right above the table went out. Music started up out of nowhere, and the frog started to dance across the table.

_ “Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gaaal!”_ The frog sang in a deep voice, legs kicking and arms moving as though it were carrying a cane and holding onto a top hat. _“Send me a kiss by wire! Honey my hearts on fire! If you refuse me, honey, you lose me, and you’ll be left alone. Oh baby, telephooone, and tell me I’m your oooown!”_

The frog collapsed onto the table with a wet slap.

Screaming, the students ran from the room, followed by a very concerned and confused Mr. Howard, trying to keep them all calm. Lydia, however, couldn’t contain her laughter as she stepped out of the classroom and into the hall.

“Oh my god,” she snickered. “That was awesome!”

Beetlejuice cackled. “Did you see their faces? What a bunch of wimps!” He shook his head, grinning. “I can’t believe they freaked out that much over a dancing frog.”

“It _was_ awesome. But very weird.”

Lydia and Beetlejuice turned to see a pale, chubby girl and lanky black boy standing off to the side. Beetlejuice vaguely recalled seeing the girl before, her bright pink pigtails were hard to miss. That and the fluffy, pastel blue dress and yellow ribbon around her throat made her stand out. Unlike the boy, in his red flannel and black graphic t-shirt. Even his haircut with the shaved sides was normal, at least for current trends.

“I mean, I always thought this school was haunted, but I feel like it’s pretty much confirmed now,” the girl continued. She sounded more curious than afraid, however.

The boy nodded, adjusting his glasses. “You’re right. I should’ve believed you sooner.”

“Uh, who are you two?” Lydia asked, brows furrowed.

“Oh! Shoot, sorry,” the girl apologized, blushing. “I’m Zoe.”

“Jayden,” the boy said with a small smile. “You’re Lydia, right? You just moved here a few months ago?”

Beetlejuice frowned as Lydia nodded. If these two were going to start some shit, he couldn’t be held responsible for his actions.

Zoe’s eyes widened. “That means you live in that big old house on the hill!”

“Yeah...” Lydia drawled, looking back and forth between them with narrowed eyes. She shifted and tapped her foot. “How did you know that?”

“Ah, sorry,” Zoe said, shaking her head. “I don’t usually listen to gossip if I can help it, but it’s a small town and things get passed around super fast, you know? Especially since everyone heard about how Megan’s little sister went to sell cookies to the people who lived there, despite her heart problems. Apparently a witch and some kind of monster tried scaring her to death. Obviously most people know that’s probably an exaggeration, but rumors… Megan really didn’t like you to begin with ‘cause she thinks you tried to give her sister a heart attack.”

Lydia grimaced. “The house was under, uh, renovation.” She bit her lip. “Did you say heart problem?”

Beetlejuice winced. Yeah, he had fun scaring people, even killing people, but he drew the line at killing children. If he’d known the girl had heart problems he probably wouldn’t have terrorized her. Well, not as much anyway.

Zoe’s eyes widened. “Don’t feel bad! She’s totally okay, and I doubt you were trying to scare her. You don’t give off those kind of vibes.”

Lydia titled her head. “Vibes?”

“Yeah!” Zoe grinned, hazel eyes widening. “I’m an empath, so I can kind of pick up emotions from others. That includes spirits. That’s kinda why I never said hi to you. You’re emotions were really all over the place and super negative—not that that’s your fault! Just, I get sick from too many negative energies.”

“You’re babbling again,” Jayden pointed out.

Zoe groaned dramatically. “I am. _Damn.”_

“An empath, huh?” Beetlejuice mused, circling the two.

Lydia shrugged. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” she said. “But you said you can feel spirits?”

“Well, yeah, sort of. I’m not a medium or anything, but I can pick up on emotions and energy,” Zoe replied. “Most of what I’ve come across has been residual, though.”

“Huh.” Lydia crossed her arms. “You seem pretty open about that.”

Jayden laughed. “When most people here have been classmates since kindergarten, it’s kind of hard to keep secrets.”

“Exactly,” Zoe agreed. “Besides, I think it’s cool. And, not to assume, but you look like the type of girl who’s into supernatural stuff, too.”

Beetlejuice snorted and shoved his hands in his pockets. “If they only knew.”

Lydia smirked. “Yeah, you’re right, I am. Actually, my house is haunted”—she paused for dramatic effect—“by the couple that lived there before me.”

“Whoa,” Jayden muttered, brows rising.

Zoe covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh, that’s so sad. I heard they fell through their floor. But how do you know it’s them?”

“Hey, you three,” Mr. Howard interrupted, marching down the hall, “Have you been waiting out here this whole time?”

“Uh, yeah, we weren’t sure where to go?” Jayden spoke up. “Everyone else ran away, so what were we supposed to do?”

Mr. Howard sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Good point. Okay, well, class is over for today. Mrs. Gardner is letting you all sit in on her study hall for the rest of this period.”

Zoe nodded and smiled. “Sure thing, we’ll get going now.”

“Your things will be given back once we can make sure they’re… safe,” Mr. Howard said. “So don’t worry about that. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if an assembly is called to discuss whatever this was.”

Beetlejuice and Lydia followed Zoe and Jayden down the hall and away from Mr. Howard.

“Hey, we can keep talking together at lunch, if you want?” Zoe offered.

Lydia smiled, just a little. “Yeah, okay.”

Mr. Howard had been right. An assembly had been called, the strange incident had been discussed, and the students were to be sent home early.

“Aw man, and I was hoping we’d get to talk more,” Zoe grumbled as the four of them left the school.

“We still can. We have until the buses show up,” Jayden said.

“I ride home on my bike, but I can wait,” Lydia told them.

Beetlejuice yawned obnoxiously and leaned against the wall of the school. _“Boring.”_

Lydia shot him a look out of the corner of her eyes.

“Yes!” Zoe gave a happy bounce, Mary Janes clacking on the pavement. “Okay, so now you have to tell us, how do you know who’s haunting your house?”

Lydia laughed. “You really want to know?”

“If you don’t tell her, she’ll explode,” Jayden warned with a smirk. “But I wanna know, too. So, there’s that.”

“I guess I don’t mind telling you,” Lydia allowed, moving to lean against the bike rack. “I can see ghosts.”

Zoe beamed. “Really? That’s awesome! Or is it scary?”

“I’d be freaked out if I saw dead people. Especially at night?” Jayden shuddered. “I always worry when I do my tarot I might summon something by mistake.”

Lydia shrugged. “Guess it depends on your definition of scary. I like scary… the strange… the creepy,” she said with a snicker. “But they aren’t scary. The ones I’ve met, anyway.”

“Hey! I’m scary!” Beetlejuice protested, lip curling back in a snarl.

“I’m so annoyed with myself! We could’ve talked sooner,” Zoe huffed, shaking her head. She sighed and smiled. “But I’m glad we’re talking now. We should hang out outside school sometime.”

Jayden nodded. “The basement in the library is usually free to use. Or there’s this waterfall out in the woods if you’re outdoorsy.”

Zoe grimaced. “I’m not hiking into the woods.”

“Me neither,” Lydia said.

“Oh! There’s always my place. It’s small and messy, but my parents don’t mind if I have friends over,” Zoe suggested. She blushed. “But I’m being pushy. We can talk about it more tomorrow?”

Lydia smiled. “Sounds good.”

“So...” Beetlejuice said, keeping pace with Lydia’s bike. “Not scary, huh?”

“That’s not what I meant. You’re scary, Beej, just not to me,” Lydia replied. “Besides, saying ‘Oh yeah, and my friend’s a demon’ would be kind of overwhelming to people I just met.”

Beetlejuice rolled his eyes. “Uh, not really, I could just show myself.”

Lydia glanced at him. “I wasn’t sure you wanted to, and I couldn’t ask you right there.” She sighed. “Just… They seem like cool people, you know? And I don’t want to scare them off. I’ve got three more years at this school and it’d be nice to have some friends there.”

“Well if they really wanna be your friends, then they should be cool with me, since we’re _best_ friends,” Beetlejuice retorted with a frown.

“Beej, come on, it’s not a big deal,” Lydia huffed.

Beetlejuice glared at the back of her bike. “Yeah. Sure.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It makes me so happy that people are reading and enjoying this! Thank you all!!

Barbara smiled at her potted plants. Since it had gotten warmer, she’d started planting the seeds she’d manifested. One already had a little sprout poking through the soil. Barbara glanced over at where Adam and Beetlejuice were working.

Adam, glasses perched near the end of his nose, was humming quietly as he whittled away at the wood that was slowly taking the shape of a house. He was getting a lot better at it, as far as Barbara could tell. And Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice was sitting cross legged on the floor, his tongue poking out between his teeth as he made… something out of clay. She wasn’t sure. It was hard not to laugh, though, seeing the usually hyperactive Beetlejuice sitting still and actually working on something.

“What are you making?” Barbara asked, moving to stand beside him.

Beetlejuice looked up at her. “Sandy.”

“Sandy?”

“Ya know, the sandworm that ate my mom?” Beetlejuice said, holding up his little sculpture. It did resemble the creature, in a vague, sausage kind of way.

Barbara smiled encouragingly. “I didn’t realize she had a name?”

Beetlejuice shrugged and went back to trying to trying to make what Barbara assumed was the mouth. “Who knows? It’s just what I called her.”

Adam finally broke his concentration from his work. He blinked at Beetlejuice’s handiwork and removed his glasses, then looked at the model town with a considering tilt of the head. “I think at that size she’ll fit nicely next to the house.”

“Sweet,” Beetlejuice muttered. “I just gotta figure out how to get her second head done...”

“Where did you even get the sandworm?” Adam asked. He shot a nervous glance at the window. “Those don’t actually live around here, do they?”

Beetlejuice snorted. “No. They live on Saturn. Normally they eat whatever ghosts show up there, but they aren’t super picky.”

“And you tamed one?” Barbara wasn’t sure if she was more alarmed or impressed.

_ “Pfft,_ you don’t tame a sandworm. I just distracted her and gave her a better target,” Beetlejuice replied. He eyed his sculpture again. Seemingly satisfied, he set it down on a sheet of plastic Adam had laid out earlier.

“Oh.” Barbara was glad he’d been able to redirect her properly and not at any of them.

Adam hummed thoughtfully. “Impressive.”

A few streaks of pink appeared in Beetlejuice’s hair, though they quickly returned to bright green. He grinned and puffed his chest. “Yeah, well, guess I’m just that good.”

The color changes of Beetlejuice’s hair were fascinating. Barbara had figured out pretty easily what green and red were—happy and pissed off respectively. Purple, well, Lydia has suggested it meant he was sad or lonely. She’d felt so bad when his hair had gone purple at dinner. But pink was giving her some trouble. Barbara thought at first it was embarrassment, but she wasn’t so sure anymore.

“Not that we aren’t happy to have you here with us, but, you seemed so excited about going to school with Lydia a few days ago,” Barbara remarked after a minute. “Did something happen?”

Beetlejuice went stiff, but only for a second. “Nah. It’s just boring. And I’m not allowed to cause too much trouble.” A few streaks of a dull chartreuse appeared in his hair, but they faded back to green faster than Barbara could comment.

“Hey, since we’ve been at this for a while, we could always go outside?” Adam suggested as he set aside the little wooden house. He laughed. “It feels a little surreal to say that.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. Fresh air will do us all good,” Barbara agreed. It got a smile from Beetlejuice, one of the genuinely happy ones he’d been sharing with them more and more. Honestly, it was pretty cute.

“Yeah, sure, whenever you want,” Beetlejuice said.

* * *

At first, daily walks outside with Adam and Barbara kept Beetlejuice’s mind off the fact that Lydia was spending more and more time with her new friends. Seeing how excited they got over every little thing like they’d never been outside in their lives was adorable.

At first.

Then Beetlejuice started noticing a trend.

“Oh, Adam, did you see that bird? I think it was a robin!”

“I saw it just as it took off!”

The next day.

“Barbara, the dandelions are starting to pop up. You know, I think I heard that tea could be made from them.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Maybe we should gather some and see if we can try making it. I’m sure Delia would be interested in it.”

“Great idea!”

Another day.

“Adam, look, doesn’t that cloud look like a dog?”

“Hm? Oh! Yeah, I see it!”

Beetlejuice squinted up at the sky. “That one over there kinda looks like a severed head.”

Adam looked from the sky, to him, to the sky again. He tilted his head. “I… I guess it sort of does?”

“Look over here, Adam!”

And so it went. Beetlejuice didn’t get it. He thought they were starting to maybe like—or tolerate—him. Adam had let him help with his model town, and didn’t even seem to mind sitting near him. Barbara talked to him about her plants and the fact that she was thinking about learning sculpting from Delia. Until he started helping them go outside. Those discussions were fading, and even Adam wasn’t working on his model as much, which meant Beetlejuice didn’t get to spend as much time with him.

Beetlejuice shook his head. No, he was being paranoid. He’d offered to take them outside. They were just getting used to being able to go anywhere they wanted, the novelty would wear off at some point. Soon things would be back to normal.

But what if they didn’t go back to normal? What was normal? Normal didn’t even exist for _him._ Beetlejuice hadn’t been living with them long enough for that. At least, not in their eyes. No, this would be the normal. Going outside and living their afterlives. Forgetting he was even there.

Because they were using him.

They were all using him. Beetlejuice was only useful to Lydia when he could scare away people she didn’t like. To be a friend, as long as she didn’t have any living ones. Now that she had _real_ friends, she didn’t need him around. And Adam and Barbara had allowed him to live with them for her sake, and now just because he was the only way they could go outside.

He was a tool. Convenient. To be used when necessary, and thrown aside until then. Beetlejuice couldn’t believe he’d fallen for their lies. Again! How could he be so stupid? Why did he always fall for it? To think they’d ever like him, _love_ him, after everything… Well, he wouldn’t make the same mistake. Beetlejuice wasn’t going to be stabbed in the back twice.

“Beetlejuice? You—” Barbara cut herself off with a gasp. Adam glanced back and his eyes went wide. They looked… afraid.

It hurt. It felt good, in a sick, twisted way. Because it proved him right; they didn’t like him at all.

“You’re not tricking me again!” Beetlejuice snarled. And, feet from the front porch, he let go of their hands.

They vanished, their shocked screams lingering in the air.

* * *

A dry wind whipped across the sand dunes. They shifted, rolled, undulating like something alive. Through the sand kicked up into the air, dark twisting rock formations stood out against the bright blue sky.

“Barbara!” Adam shouted, voice echoing through the empty desert.

A distant voice called back, “Adam!”

It was impossible to tell just which direction Barbara’s voice was coming from. Adam trudged forward, but the sand was so deep it was like walking through mud. He cupped his hands around his mouth. _“Barbara!”_

Barbara appeared at the top of a dune. She spotted him and waved. “Adam! Up here!”

Adam ran, or tried to. He struggled up the sand dune, clawing at the ever moving ground. It seemed for every few inches forward, he slipped several back, but he wouldn’t give up. Chest heaving. Adam hauled himself up onto the top of the dune.

“There’s a door!” Barbara shouted over the howling winds, grasping his hands to help him up. “It looks like ours!”

They stumbled down the other side of the dune. Adam could just make out a red door a few feet away. “That has to be it! A way out!”

Barbara tugged him along. “Come on!” She looked back, and shrieked. Adam turned and screamed. A sandworm cut through the sand towards them, rearing up and letting out a roar. The second head opened it’s maw, fangs glinting in the light.

Adam grabbed the door and flung it open, and they burst into the living room. The door swung shut just as the sandworm’s jaws snapped down on where they’d been seconds before.

“Oh my god,” Barbara panted, backing away from the door.

“What the hell was that? Was that Saturn?” Adam shook his head, running a hand over his head.

“It had to be.” Barbara wrapped her arms around him. “I was so scared! Adam, we could have been eaten!”

Adam held her close, stroking her hair. “We’re okay, though. We made it.” Despite his attempt to calm her, he knew she could feel the way he was shaking.

Barbara leaned back after a moment. “I don’t get it, why would he do that?”

“I don’t know,” Adam said. Things had been going so well, and then out of nowhere Beetlejuice’s hair had gone scarlet.

“The house...” Barbara murmured.

Looking around, they could see the place had been trashed. The couch and chairs had been overturned, plants had been toppled, spilling dirt everywhere. Adam jumped as Delia’s sculpture inched its way across the floor like some kind of mutated worm.

A sound that could only be described as something between a scream of rage and an inhuman roar shook the house. Adam and Barbara exchanged a look, and then hurried to the attic. Barbara threw open the window and leaned out, Adam squeezing in beside her.

Beetlejuice stormed around the yard below, tearing at his own hair. He whipped around and kicked at the oak tree by the house. With a crack, the roots ripped up out of the dirt and the tree crashed to the ground, shaking the house. He turned his furious glare on them. “YOU FUCKIN’ LOSERS!” Beetlejuice flung his arm out, setting the tree ablaze. “I NEVER SHOULD’VE TRUSTED YOU!”

“Beetlejuice, stop! What are you talking about?” Barbara called down to him.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” Beetlejuice shouted. His entire suit was now a matching red, loudly broadcasting the danger he posed.

“No, we don’t!” Adam insisted.

With a thundering boom and a flash of light, Beetlejuice appeared in the attic. “Stop_ lying_ to me!” he snarled. “You’re just using me again!” Beetlejuice paced like a tiger in a cage. “Just like before you don’t care! Unless there’s something in it for you. I’m good enough to keep around to scare away the living! Or to let you out of the house! But I’m not family! Not a friend! Not _anything...” _His voice cracked.

Adam wasn’t sure how Beetlejuice had come to that conclusion, it certainly wasn’t true, but it explained why he had gone red. “Beetlejuice, that’s not how it is at all,” he said, taking a cautious step closer.

Beetlejuice full on growled at him. “Oh it’s not, is it? Then how come whenever we leave the house it’s like I’m not even there? Huh? Like I’m invisible even to you two?” The red faded to violet, then to a deep midnight blue. His shoulders hunched up by his ears and his hands clenched into tight fists.

Barbara squared her shoulders and marched up to Beetlejuice. Before he could figure out how to react, she pulled him down into a hug. Adam joined her a second later, wrapping his own arms around him.

Beetlejuice twitched, his arms jerked at his sides. A strangled noise escaped him. Beetlejuice’s head dropped to their shoulders, and he sobbed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh! You all are so nice with your comments!! I really hope you enjoy this chapter just as much. :)

Beetlejuice couldn’t stop the tears. What was worse was that he couldn’t tell whether he was still pissed off, or just sad. Or both. It was hard to think anything when he was being hugged. Fingers carded through his hair, two hands rubbed his back, an arm was wrapped around his waist.

“We weren’t trying to exclude you,” Barbara said, voice soft in his ear. “And we aren’t tricking you.”

“She’s right, I swear we aren’t,” Adam insisted. “We’re sorry you feel used.”

And, for some reason—maybe desperation—Beetlejuice believed them. Which only made him feel worse, because that meant he nearly killed them over paranoia. They would’ve been gone forever. It would’ve been all his fault.

The fingers left his hair and Beetlejuice panicked. “No, no, no, I’m sorry.”

“Beetlejuice,” Barbara sighed, leaning back a little. She swiped her thumbs under his eyes, brushing away the tears, but they were just replaced by more.

“I’m sorry! Please,” Beetlejuice begged.

Adam and Barbara shared a look. “Barbara and I need to talk. Alone. We just need a few minutes,” he said. “Just, relax downstairs, okay?”

Beetlejuice wanted to protest, but if he did he might just make things worse. He nodded, hanging his head, and phased through the floor. Wiping his nose on the back of his sleeve, Beetlejuice looked around the living room. He snapped his fingers and everything returned to normal. Despite how boring it was, he drank in every detail, wanting to remember everything for when he was forced to leave.

He wouldn’t cause any more trouble, though. After everything, it was the least he could do. Beetlejuice plopped down onto the floor and gazed up at the stairs. He would wait. However long it took, he would be good and wait.

* * *

The front door opened and the quiet click of heels on wood floor announced Delia’s return home. “Oh! Hello, Beetlejuice,” she greeted, a smile in her voice. “I don’t suppose you know what the giant pile of ash next to the house is all about?”

“Yeah. I burnt the tree down.”

“Ah… Any particular reason why?” Delia asked.

Beetlejuice nodded, never once taking his eyes from the staircase. “I thought everyone was tricking me again,” he said, voice quivering.

Delia walked over, stopping beside him. “Why would you think that?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Beetlejuice retorted. “The last time everyone was nice to me I got stabbed in the back.”

“I-Ah… That’s fair,” Delia replied. “But I promise that isn’t the case this time.”

Beetlejuice shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I sent them to Saturn, and they could’ve died for real. They’re just talking about the best way to get rid of me, probably.”

Delia was quiet for a moment. Then, “I guess that’s why your hair’s black. Did you apologize?”

Frowning, Beetlejuice ran his fingers through his hair. It had never turned black before. His hand dropped back to his lap. “Yeah. But like I said, it doesn’t matter. They hate me… I hate me.”

“No, I’m sure they don’t hate you,” Delia protested. She removed her heels and sat on the ground beside him, her back to the stairs so she could look him in the eye. “Why don’t you tell me exactly what happened.”

Beetlejuice wasn’t sure what good it would do. He shrugged. “Lydia’s got new friends and forgot about me. And every time I took Adam and Barbara outside, they acted like I wasn’t even there.” Beetlejuice brought his legs up towards his chest and wrapped his arms around them. “I thought they were just using me. So I got mad. They said they hadn’t been using me, though. I said I was sorry, but it wasn’t enough before, so I doubt it’s enough now.”

Delia scooted closer, smoothed out her bright purple dress, and rested her hand on his arm. “While that does sound bad, I don’t think you have to worry about being banished.” At Beetlejuice’s disbelieving snort, she continued. “Think about it. If they wanted you gone, wouldn’t they have said so already?”

“You—” Beetlejuice snapped his mouth shut. He hadn’t thought of that. But it was possible. At least, he hoped it was. Beetlejuice chewed on his bottom lip. “Maybe...”

“Did I ever tell you about my last marriage?”

Beetlejuice blinked at the sudden change in subject, his brows furrowed. “Uh, no?”

Delia leaned back against the stairs. “My last marriage was to a man I met in college. We spent almost all our time together, and ended up getting married not long after graduation,” she said. “Everything was amazing at first. So I didn’t notice the little things that started to change. How he would stay out later and later for “business”, less frequent dates, and eventually the lack of sex. No, it wasn’t until I came home one day and saw an email from him telling me he’d left to go live with his boyfriend in Rome that I knew anything was wrong.”

“Damn...” Beetlejuice muttered.

“Yeah, damn,” Delia said with a small, self-depricating laugh. “I’ve had a hard time trusting in relationships after that. Well, romantic relationships. I fell for Otho’s tricks hook, line, and sinker.”

Beetlejuice tilted his head. “Then how come you’re getting married to Chuck?”

Delia smiled. “Because I’m choosing to trust him. If I don’t try, then I’ll never know if I can finally be happy.” She took one of Beetlejuice’s hands in both of hers. “You need to decide if you can do the same. Trust goes both ways, after all.” Giving his hand a pat, Delia stood and collected her heels. “Just think about it, at least.”

Unable to think of the words to say, Beetlejuice just nodded. Before she could leave the room, though, he called out. “Thanks.”

“Beetlejuice?”

Beetlejuice looked up to see Adam standing at the top of the stairs. A confusing swirl of hope and dread settled in the pit of his stomach. “Yeah?”

“You can come back up now,” Adam said.

“’kay...” Beetlejuice stood and trudged up the stairs, following Adam to the attic. Once they got there, he couldn’t look either of them in the eye. Instead he hunched in on himself and stared at a knot in the wood of the floor.

Barbara gave a soft sigh. “You know what you did was wrong, right?”

Beetlejuice nodded.

“And you really do feel bad about that?”

Beetlejuice nodded again.

“Then can you explain why you thought we were tricking you?” Adam asked.

“I… The only time you acted like you wanted me around before, it was to trick me into becoming alive so you could kill me,” Beetlejuice said. He finally looked at them. “I thought you guys actually liked me and it was a lie. So it made sense for it to be the same this time.”

“We really hurt you with that...” Barbara sounded surprised.

Beetlejuice frowned. “Of course it fucking hurt!” He flinched and ducked his head. “But I didn’t think it would keep bugging me so much. I deserved it, so I figured I’d get over it eventually. And I’d deserve it again.” Beetlejuice’s eyes widened and he rushed forward, collapsing to his knees and grasping the front of Barbara’s dress in one hand, and Adam’s shirt in the other. “But I don’t wanna go! I don’t wanna be banished! Please don’t get rid of me!”

“We’re not getting rid of you,” Adam said, he hesitated a second before resting his hand on Beetlejuice’s shoulder.

“Of course we’re not,” Barbara agreed. She cupped his cheek, and he couldn’t help but lean into the touch. “We’re sorry for how things turned out last time. But...”

Beetlejuice flinched.

_ “But,_ we need you to tell us when something’s bothering you. We’re not mind readers, and this has to be the last time you blow up like this. Okay?” Barbara told him, tone stern.

“It will,” Beetlejuice promised. He slowly unclenched his fingers and stood. “You’ll really let me stay?”

“Of course,” Barbara replied with a small, fond smile while Adam nodded, a matching smile curling his own lips.

Beetlejuice couldn’t stop the relieved grin from spreading across his face, or from wrapping his arms around their shoulders and pulling the both of them into a hug. They were stiff at first, but they quickly relaxed, and even returned the embrace. “You won’t regret it, I promise.”

Adam smiled. “Good. I certainly hope so. Just don’t forget to talk to Lydia, too.”

* * *

“So, what did you wanna talk about?” Lydia asked, sitting cross legged on her bed, homework splayed between her and Beetlejuice.

“Uh...” Beetlejuice plucked at the comforter. “Well…”

Lydia rolled her eyes and smiled. “Oh, come on! Spit it out already.”

Beetlejuice took a deep calming breath, remembering how that had helped him relax before. “We’re still friends, right?”

“Uh,_ yeah,_ of course! Why wouldn’t we be?” Lydia replied, arching an eyebrow.

“It’s just, now that you’ve got new friends, living friends, you… might not… want me around,” Beetlejuice said, voice drifting off towards the end.

Lydia shook her head and pushed her homework aside. “You’re so stupid,” she said, wrapping her arms around him. “Just because I might have living friends doesn’t mean you stop being my friend.”

Beetlejuice reached up, hesitated, and placed his hand on her arm. “Best friends?”

“BFFFs forever,” Lydia laughed, ruffling his hair.

Beetlejuice scrunched his nose at the action, but he couldn’t stop the grin that broke out. “So, does that mean I get to rub that in their faces? ‘cause I’m totally gonna rub that in their faces.”

Lydia groaned dramatically and let go of him. “Maybe. But that would mean they have to meet you first. Let me figure out how to explain things to them, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, okay, fine,” Beetlejuice agreed. “They’re gonna be so freaked out, heh!”

“Don’t be too mean,” Lydia warned.

“I won’t!”

Lydia held out her pinkie. “Swear it.”

“I swear I won’t be too mean,” Beetlejuice huffed, linking his pinkie with hers.

* * *

The basement of the library was well lit, for being a basement with no windows. Bookshelves took up most of the space, filled with dictionaries, history books, and various adult books. There were also a few dark wood tables with matching chairs off to one side.

Zoe sat on one of the tables, swinging her legs, watching Jayden shoved some papers into his backpack.

“Sorry I’m late,” Lydia said, dropping her bag in a chair. Beetlejuice leaned against one of the bookshelves and crossed his arms.

“Don’t be,” Jayden replied with a smile.

“Yeah, it’s totally fine,” Zoe assured. “I was just helping Jayden with his audition.”

“Audition?” Lydia repeated, smiling at Jayden.

Jayden nodded. “Yep. During the summer there’s a local theater that puts on productions. I’m auditioning for _Footloose_.”

_ “Lame,”_ Beetlejuice heckled.

“That’s great. I hope you get a good part.” Lydia replied, ignoring him. She tapped her foot, looking back and forth between them. “Um, there’s something I have to tell you guys.”

Zoe perked up, hopping off the table. “What?”

“So… You know how I mentioned I can see ghosts?” Lydia said. She stood up straight. “Well, there’s one I forgot to tell you about. He’s here with us right now.”

Jayden’s jaw dropped. “Whoa, really? Where?”

“Hey,” Beetlejuice said, his invisibility act falling away. At Zoe and Jayden’s yelps, he grinned.

“Don’t be scared!” Lydia told them. “He’s pretty chill. His name’s Beetlejuice.”

“Beetlejuice?” Zoe echoed, looking unsure.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” Beetlejuice snickered. His grin faded. “No, seriously though, don’t say it again.”

“Lydia, he’s got weird vibes… Actually, I’ve felt them before. Has he been following you this whole time?” Zoe asked, eyes wide.

Jayden gasped. “He was the one who made the dead frog dance!”

Beetlejuice pressed a hand against his chest and batted his lashes. “Who? Little ol’ me?” He snickered. “Guilty as charged. But that was just a parlor trick. Watch this!” Beetlejuice ripped his face off.

Zoe and Jayden shrieked.

“Ahh, there’s the sound I’ve been missing,” Beetlejuice sighed.

“Beej!” Lydia scolded.

Beetlejuice slapped his face back on. “What?”

“I told you not to be mean.”

“I wasn’t being mean, I was showing them a cool trick,” Beetlejuice protested.

“Oh god, I feel sick,” Zoe muttered, hand over her mouth.

Lydia shot him a glare as she went over to rub Zoe’s back. “It’s okay, Zoe, Beej is just an asshole sometimes. He doesn’t actually mean any harm.”

“Are you sure?” Jayden asked, holding his backpack in front of him as if it would help at all if Beetlejuice decided to attack.

“Yes, I’m sure. He promised,” Lydia said.

Zoe gave her an incredulous look. “And you believe him?”

Beetlejuice huffed. “It was a pinkie promise, and only a monster would break one of those.”

Jayden dropped into one of the chairs. “This is a lot.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I mean, sure, I believed in ghosts, but I guess maybe not as much as I thought. Fuck.”

“Jeez, calm down kid,” Beetlejuice said, resting his arm on Lydia’s head. “It’s not that big a deal.”

Lydia poked him in the side and he jumped back with a feral hiss. “I promise, not all ghosts are as chaotic as him.”

“Yep, I’m one of a kind!” Beetlejuice boasted, throwing his arms out wide.

Zoe, having finally calmed down, eyed Beetlejuice curiously. “How is it you two know each other anyway? Did you know her when you were alive?”

Beetlejuice snorted. “I was never alive. Well, actually, I was for about a second until she stabbed me, but _that_ is a long story.”

“You murdered him?” Jayden exclaimed.

Lydia groaned and shook her head. “Yes and no. Like he said, it’s a long story.”

Zoe set her hands on her hips. “How about the cliff notes version, then?”

“Oh! _Oh!_ I can do that!” Beetlejuice disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The lights went out, but a spotlight appeared, shining down on Beetlejuice where he stood on one of the tables, along with five clones who were dressed to vaguely resemble the Maitlands, the Deetz, and Lydia.

“Oh my god,” Lydia muttered, face palming.

“So it went a little like this,” Beetlejuice said. He ushered the clones around to where he wanted them. “It was a day like any other, sunny and bright, just being my demonic self, when I happened across Adam and Barbara Maitland.”

The appropriate clones wandered to the center of the table.

“Gosh, I sure like polishing cribs,” the ‘Adam’ clone said, posing awkwardly.

“Not as much as I like pot!” the ‘Barbara’ clone added in a high pitched voice. Beetlejuice shook his head. “I mean, pottery!”

“Something’s wrong with the floorboards,” ‘Adam’ pointed out. “I sure hope we don’t fall!”

The two clones crumpled to the table, arms and legs bending unnaturally. “Oh no!”

Beelejuice jumped to the center of the table and the two got up. “Hey, I’ll be your guide to the other side!”

The clones screamed and clung to each other.

“So then,” Beetlejuice said, stepping to the edge of the table, “I explained how the Deetz”—the ‘Deetz’ clones all wandered towards the middle of the table—“moved into their house. And the Maitlands wanted ‘em gone, so they asked me to help scare ‘em off. But they sucked at it.”

“Beetlejuice, this isn’t the cliff notes version!” Lydia told him.

“Well I don’t know what cliff notes are, so, that’s your problem,” Beetlejuice retorted.

Lydia crossed her arms. “It means make it short and to the point.”

Beetlejuice groaned. “Fine.” He snapped his fingers, directing the clones again. “Okay, so, quick version: I was sitting on the roof of her house feeling sad and alone when Lydia showed up.”

The ‘Lydia’ clone walked over. “Who the hell are you?”

“Well, I can’t tell ya, you’ll have to guess my name,” Beetlejuice said, slinging an arm around the clone’s shoulders.

“Beetlejuice?” ‘Lydia’ guessed.

“Yep, now you gotta say it three times,” Beetlejuice replied with a grin.

“Nah,” the ‘Lydia’ clone said and pushed him off the table.

Beetlejuice popped up again. “But I’m already dead, so that didn’t do anything.” He climbed back up onto the table. “The Deetz had this big party, and like the vanilla ghosts they are, the Maitlands made ‘em burst into song.”

The ‘Maitland’ clones waved their arms in a spooky manner.

_ “Daylight come, and me wan’ go home!”_ the ‘Deetz’ clones sang, posing.

“That was stupid and lame and didn’t work,” the ‘Lydia’ clone said.

Beetlejuice waved all of them except that one off. “So then she called me up, I scared ‘em of, and we became best friends forever!” he explained. “Scaring people, having fun!”

“Yeah, that was fun,” one of the clones muttered.

“Shut it!” Beetlejuice snapped. He frowned. “Everything was great, until it wasn’t.” Beetlejuice grimaced, not really wanting to go into detail. “Uh… Short version: we tricked each other, I became alive, then she stabbed me, and I got a sandworm to eat my mom. The end.” With a clap of his hands, the clones vanished and the lights came back on.

Zoe looked at Lydia. “I don’t know if I’m more confused or not, but, you two _are _friends?”

Lydia smiled. “Yeah, we’re friends.”

“Did he say he was a demon?” Jayden asked.

“That’s ‘cause I am,” Beetlejuice said, dropping to sit on the table. “And no, before you ask, I’m not gonna steal your soul. Ya know, movies really like to stretch the truth.”

“I guess having a demon as a friend is better than having one as an enemy,” Zoe mused.

“See? She gets it,” Beetlejuice said with a grin, pointing at her.

Jayden sighed. “Just don’t pull your face off again, okay?”

Beetlejuice nodded.

Zoe smiled and held out her fist. “Then it’s agreed. We can all be friends.”

“Yeah!” Beetlejuice bumped it with his own. “Isn’t this awesome, Lyds? Now we’re all friends!”

Lydia giggled and rolled her eyes fondly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all again for the amazing comments! They really do make me so happy! :D

“Come on, guys! The show’s about to start!” Lydia called out from the living room, where she sat on the floor. The white-blue glow from the television was the only light source, casting her shadow up against the couch and wall.

Beetlejuice appeared on the couch, stretching his arms out along the back. “You sure this one’s my episode?”

“Yes! It’s their investigation in North Carolina, and they even called it Ouija Board,” Lydia said with a smirk.

She, along with Adam, Barbara, and Delia had roped Beetlejuice into watching the show of those ghost hunters he’d freaked out. Charles, knowing what was coming, had already headed up to the study to work, claiming he already dealt with ghosts on a day-to-day basis and didn’t need to watch them on TV.

Adam and Barbara rushed through the wall from the kitchen, settling themselves next to Beetlejuice on the couch. It wasn’t a large couch, so Adam ended up pressed into Beetlejuice’s side while Barbara leaned against his. Delia hurried out a moment later, taking the available chair.

“We didn’t miss the beginning, did we?” Adam asked.

“Nope,” Lydia said. “Just in time.”

Barbara sighed and smiled. “Good.”

A bucket of popcorn appeared in Beetlejuice’s lap. “This better be worth it,” he said, shoving a handful into his mouth as the intro played. Remembering the manners he’d slowly been learning, he held the bucket down to Lydia.

“Thanks.” Lydia grabbed a handful and leaned back against his shins.

Beetlejuice held the bucket out to Delia.

“Oh, I, uh, appreciate the offer but I’m full, thanks,” Delia said, her gaze flicking to his hands and then back to his face. She smiled politely.

Shrugging, Beetlejuice set the popcorn back on his lap. “Oh, hey, that_ is _the place!” he exclaimed, pointing at the TV as the house—or museum as it so happened—came on screen.

Lydia grinned. “Told you it would be your episode.”

As the episode progressed, and the popcorn vanished, Beetlejuice began to zone out. Instead, his attention was drawn to Adam and Barbara. At some point Barbara’s head had ended up on Adam’s shoulder. They were holding hands, fingers linked together. Bother were invested in what was happening on the TV. Still facing ahead, pretending to watch the show, Beetlejuice elongated his arm and wrapped it around both of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see them jump, then glance at him.

It was only when they didn’t push him away, or move themselves, that Beetlejuice relaxed again. Adam even leaned a little closer. Or at least, Beetlejuice thought he did. It was hard to tell whether he had, or if it was just wishful thinking.

He focused on the TV again. “Hey! They got the Ouija board out!” he exclaimed with a grin.

“Sweet,” Lydia laughed.

_ “During this Ouija board session, we make contact with a demonic entity,”_ the narrator—who Beetlejuice recognizes as the Goth Man—said over the paused image on screen. _“This entity is so dangerous that we will be censoring the name, and anything related to it for your safety.”_

“Aww man, come on!” Beetlejuice complained.

Adam gave an amused huff. “It’s probably for the best. Imagine if people all over the country knew your name and were constantly summoning you.”

Beetlejuice flinched. “Eugh, you have a point.” As surprising as it was, he was quite happy with only the few people he knew being aware of him. He didn’t need the whole country knowing. For the time being, anyway.

The show only switched to the camera over the Ouija board a couple of times before Beetlejuice’s name ever became a subject. Most of the audio after that was bleeped, along with subtitles being blacked out.

“It’s showtime, losers!” was the last thing that was captured before the camera went black and the audio died.

_ “Unfortunately, we had not been prepared for the kind of attacks we experienced up in that attic.”_ The footage cut to the crew outside the building. Baldy showed off the bruises and cuts he got from being grabbed and dropped.

“What did you do to him?” Barbara asked. She only sounded mildly concerned.

“Nothing crazy! Just picked him up and dropped him, that’s it,” Beetlejuice insisted.

Lydia snorted. “Wow, really? He’s such a baby,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

“Right?” Beetlejuice agreed with a cackle.

“That’s not nice, I’m sure it hurt,” Delia said, though the tiniest curl of her lip suggested she agreed with them, if only a little.

Beetlejuice shrugged and smirked. “Hey, that’s what he gets for makin’ fun of me.”

* * *

A few days later found Adam and Barbara in the kitchen, preparing dinner for the Deetz. Beetlejuice had been hanging out with Lydia while she did her homework when music had drifted up from downstairs, and his curiosity made him investigate.

_ “Coconut woman is calling out, and everyday you can hear her shout: Get your coconut water! Man, it good for your daughter! Coco got a lot a’ iron! Make ya strong like a lion!”_

Beetlejuice frowned at the odd calypso song. But it faded when he spotted Adam and Barbara dancing along to it while cooking, looking like the dorks they were. Barbara bopped her hip against Adam’s and they both giggled. Beetlejuice bit his lip, his body vibrating from how much effort he was using to not go over and join them.

But selfishness won out. Beetlejuice ran and slid to a stop between them, bunching up the floor mat. “Mind if I join this dance?” he asked, holding out his hands to them both.

“Uh, sure, why not?” Barbara said with a little laugh. She placed her hand in Beetlejuice’s.

Adam looked away, embarrassed. “I don’t know...”

Beetlejuice beamed and grabbed his hand anyway. “Great!” He pulled them both, spinning them closer to him. Chuckling, he stepped them forward twice, and back twice to the beat.

Barbara gave him a curious look. “What are we doing?” she asked with a half-smile.

“Dancing, duh. You two ever learned how to salsa?” Beetlejuice replied, keeping them in rhythm.

“You know how to salsa?” Adam looked up at him with wide eyes.

Beetlejuice smirked. “I’m hundreds of years old. I’ve picked up a few things.” He twirled them both out to the side. “Just have fun with it,” he said, winking. “’specially you, Adam, loosen up!”

Barbara giggled. “Yeah, Adam,” she teased.

“Okay, okay, I’ll try,” Adam relented, a small smile creeping across his lips. He gasped as Beetlejuice twirled them again, leading them back to his side.

“And here I thought all your surprises were for mischief only,” Barbara remarked, arching an eyebrow.

Beetlejuice grinned and dipped them. “Nope!”

“Whoa!” Adam yelped.

“Relax, it’s not like I’m gonna drop ya,” Beetlejuice snickered, pulling them up and towards him again.

Barbara laughed. “This is fun!”

“It is,” Adam agreed as the music ended. “But, uh, I’ve never been much of a ballroom dancer. I think I’ve always been better a freestyle, personally.” He struck a “cool” pose.

Beetlejuice blinked. “Adam. I can’t believe you made me see that with my own two eyes.”

Adam flushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Aw, don’t be embarrassed, I love your freestyle dancing,” Barbara cooed, kissing Adam sweetly.

“Yeah?” Adam replied, perking up.

“I don’t know how you two manage to be such dorks, and yet still so adorable,” Beetlejuice chuckled, slinging his arms around their shoulders.

* * *

Adam gave a quiet groan as Barbara collapsed on top of him. He stroked her hair and smiled at the soft kisses she pressed to his neck. The best things—he’d decided—about ghost sex, were the lack of sweat, and the fact that they could kiss as much as they wanted without worrying about breathing.

“Is it weird to say that I think we’ve gotten better at this since we died?” Barbara wondered, resting her chin on his chest.

“No, not at all,” Adam said with a small laugh. “I was thinking the same.”

Barbara kissed him before rolling off and to the side. Adam watched her stretch as she sat up. She was the most amazing woman ever. Smart, kind, funny, beautiful, and so, so strong. Barbara stood and padded over to where she’d dropped her dress. Maybe it was selfish, or morbid, or both, but Adam wouldn’t have chosen anyone else to die and spend eternity with.

Well… Maybe there was one other.

Adam slowly got up and started to get dressed as well. Sure they could just have the clothes appear on them, but along with “sleeping” they did it for a sense of normalcy.

He glanced at Barbara. Certain particular thoughts had been swirling in his brain for a while now. Adam felt guilty about them, but he couldn’t get them to go away. The best thing to do, he knew, was to talk to Barbara about it. She was understanding, but to what extent? The thoughts he’d been having were not exactly ones most people would reasonably be okay with.

Barbara caught him staring. “Adam? Is everything okay?”

“Huh? Oh, well…?” Adam yanked his pants on and sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh. He rubbed his hands together, leaning forward against his thighs. “There’s something I’ve been thinking about. But I didn’t know how to bring it up.”

With a soft, understanding hum, Barbara sat beside him. “You can tell me anything, you know that. Right?”

“I know. I guess I wanted to be sure about it, before I said something,” Adam replied.

“I get it,” Barbara said, kissing his cheek. She folded his hands in hers. “What have you been thinking about?”

Adam sighed. “It’s going to sound crazy. It _is_ crazy, but…” He looked at Barbara, meeting her forest green eyes. “I, well, for lack of a better term, I have a crush. On Beetlejuice.” Panicking, he continued, “I love you so much, Barbara. Please, don’t think that’s changed at all! I never expected anything like this to happen, but more and more I’ve just been having those feelings around him. I’m sorry.”

“Adam,” Barbara said, squeezing his hands. “Adam, relax. It’s okay.”

“It’s… what?”

Barbara leaned into him, resting her forehead against his. “I’m not upset, and you have nothing to be sorry for.” She smiled. “Adam, I do appreciate that you’d tell me this, but it’s okay. To be honest, I’ve been feeling the same way.”

Adam’s eyes widened. “You have?”

“Yeah. I was surprised by it, too,” Barbara confessed. She gave a little laugh. “I’m still surprised by it.”

Adam couldn’t help but laugh as well. But then he sobered. “So, what do we do? Does this mean he… joins us?”

“Hm.” Barbara folded her legs up under her. “I think so? If he’d like to, of course. Do _you_ want that?”

It sounded nice, Adam had to admit. Well, in theory. He nodded. “I do if you do.” While Adam had been thinking about it, thinking about being with Beetlejuice and actually committing to trying it were two different things. Despite Beetlejuice flirting with them, he didn’t know whether it was serious or not.

Barbara kissed his cheek. “Don’t be so worried.”

“Ah. You know me too well,” Adam chuckled, returning her affection with a chaste kiss. “Should we… Should we tell him now?”

“I think so,” Barbara said with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song in this chapter is "Coconut Woman" by Harry Belafonte. You can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9eY2LFAn-4


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've said it before, but really guys, but all these comments just make me so dang happy!! Short, long, incoherent screaming, I love all the comments! So I hope you all really love this chapter!

Beetlejuice’s content sigh was muffled by the attic floor. The sun had come in through the window at just the right angle, and he’d found it perfect for warming himself with. He rolled over onto his back, stretched, and scratched at his stomach. Yep. Perfect.

“Ah… Are you sunning yourself?”

Barbara’s voice caused Beetlejuice to crack open one eye. “A-Dog, B-town,” he greeted. Closing his eyes again, he smirked. “And, yeah, I am.”

Adam and Barbara both laughed a little at that. But then, in a more serious tone, Adam spoke up. “We wanted to talk with you, actually, if you don’t mind?”

Both of Beetlejuice’s eyes snapped open at that. Crap. That sounded serious. But he couldn’t remember doing anything especially annoying lately. Mostly he’d either been hanging out with Lydia (with Zoe and Jayden sometimes tagging along) or going outside with Adam and Barbara. Beetlejuice clambered to his feet, ready to apologize, until he saw their expressions.

Neither Adam or Barbara appeared angry. But they had to be if they wanted to “talk”, right? Beetlejuice gave a little nod and a half-smile. “Yeah, sure, what’s up?”

Barbara shared a look with Adam, the two of them communicating silently.

Adam nodded, and then turned his attention back to Beetlejuice. “Beetlejuice, Barbara and I have talked it over and… well…” He blushed, but held Beetlejuice’s gaze. “We’d like it if you were our boyfriend. I-If you want, of course.”

Beetlejuice blinked. Frowned. He stuck his pinkie in his ear and pulled it back out again. “Excuse me, come again? I don’t think I heard ya.”

“We’re being serious,” Barbara insisted, only looking mildly disgusted. She smiled again, however. “We really do want you to be part of our relationship.”

“You… You do?” Beetlejuice wasn’t sure how to feel. They’d both said they’d wanted him before and it had been a lie. But they apologized for it. Except, if that was a lie and this was another trick of some kind?

No. Taking a breath, Beetlejuice calmed himself. Delia had said she was trusting Charles after what she’d been through, so he could do the same. And they looked… hopeful.

“We do,” Adam said, his smile shy, but reassuring.

Joy burst through Beetlejuice. Grabbing them by their waists, he hauled them close with a laugh. _“Yeah!” _

Wait, boyfriend? That meant… Beetlejuice lunged, slamming his lips against Barbara’s. She gave a muffled yelp. Before Adam could say anything, Beetlejuice smooched him as well.

“Beetlejuice!” Barbara exclaimed, struggling out of his hold.

“What?” Beetlejuice flinched, letting go of Adam who looked a little dazed. “I thought…?”

Barbara shook her head and cupped his cheeks. “Like this,” she said, pulling him down into a kiss.

For a second Beetlejuice went stiff, the kiss taking him by surprise. It was so gentle, the way Barbara’s soft lips pressed against his own, her hands sliding down to rest against his chest, and he felt his whole body go loose.

Barbara pulled away, but only a little. “See? Much better.”

Beetlejuice was saved from trying to form words by Adam’s hand on his cheek, turning his head so Adam could kiss him. While it was just as sweet as Barbara’s kiss, there was also a hunger simmering just beneath.

“We don’t have to rush,” Adam said, breaking the kiss.

“Exactly. In fact, it’d probably be best to discuss this,” Barbara agreed.

As much as Beetlejuice would rather have just kept kissing, he nodded. “Okay?” He wasn’t going to fuck up the relationship immediately. Or, he’d try not to. Beetlejuice nearly jumped when they grabbed his hands, not having expected it while they weren’t going outside. He let them lead him over to the couch, and watched curiously as they sat on either side of him.

“So, uh… what’re we talkin’ about?” Beetlejuice asked, leg bouncing. He was buzzing with nervous energy, unsure of what to do in this sort of situation.

Barbara gave his hand a little squeeze. “Well, just, what we all are expecting from this, I suppose? What we’re comfortable with, or uncomfortable with, that sort of thing,” she said.

Adam chuckled. “Yeah, we’ve never done anything like this before.”

“I’ve had a threesome?” Beetlejuice commented. He hummed. “But I don’t think that’s the same.”

“Uh,_ no,_ I don’t think it is,” Adam agreed, blushing again.

Barbara gave a quiet huff. “Why don’t I start? To give an idea?” When she got their nods, she continued. “Well, Adam already knows, but I’m demisexual.”

Beetlejuice blinked. “Uh…” He knew humans liked to label themselves, he’d never really bothered, but it seemed important to them. But as for which label meant what, Beetlejuice had no clue.

“From what I’ve looked up, it means I need to have an emotional connection with someone, before I feel sexual attraction,” Barbara explained patiently. “I really didn’t know much about it myself, at first. But, what it means for us is that, while I don’t mind kissing you, or cuddling, I’m not at the point where I’d feel comfortable having sex. It doesn’t mean I won’t ever feel ready, but just not right now. Okay?”

“I don’t really get it, but okay,” Beetlejuice replied. He knew he could push boundaries, and people considered him a pervert—and he happily agreed—he would never have sex with someone who didn’t want it.

Barbara smiled and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

Beetlejuice could get used to that. The whole gentle kissing thing. He looked at Adam. “What about you, sexy?” Beetlejuice asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Adam stammered and looked away. “Well, uh, I’m… I’d be fine with having, um, sex.” A little panicked looking, he returned his gaze to Beetlejuice. “But not immediately! I mean, I’d like it if we could take things slow.”

“And you’re okay with that, Babs?” Beetlejuice asked, trying his best not to kiss the hell out of Adam right then and there.

“Mhm. Adam and I discussed it, and I don’t mind at all,” Barbara replied, patting his knee. “And yes, we’d both like to take things slow.”

Beetlejuice scratched at his chin. “What the heck does that mean?”

“It means, we don’t rush right into sex. We should spend time together, on dates, probably,” Adam explained. His eyes widened and a grinned. “Since we can leave the house with you, that’s a possibility now.”

“Dates, huh?” Beetlejuice nodded, pretending to have a clue what that meant. “Does that mean no making out, though?”

Barbara laughed. “Of course not. That’s allowed,” she said.

“Thank fuck,” Beetlejuice sighed, and kissed her.

* * *

“LYYYDIIIIAAAA!” Beetlejuice phased through her door at a run, not thinking or caring to knock. Lydia, Zoe, and Jayden all looked up at him in surprise, tarot cards spread between them. He skidded to a stop. “Oh, hey, ‘sup guys?”

“Hey, Beej,” Zoe greeted cheerily.

“Hi,” Jayden said with a small nod.

Lydia raised an eyebrow. “Did you need something?” she asked with a small smirk. “You seemed kinda freaked out.”

Beetlejuice frowned. “I wasn’t “freaked out”. I don’t “freak out”, Lyds.” And he didn’t pout either. “But, there was somethin’ I needed your help with… And you guys can help! Two heads are better than one, so four should be even better than that!”

Jayden shrugged. “We can try?”

Lydia nodded. “What is it?”

“Okay… What the hell is a daayteh?” Beetlejuice asked, nose scrunching at the term.

“A date?” Zoe clarified, brows raised.

Beetlejuice pointed at her. “Yeah, that!” He plopped himself down on the floor with them. “Adam and Babs wanna go on dates, but I don’t know what that means. How can we do dates if I don’t know what that is?”

“Wait, what?” Lydia’s eyes widened. “A date together or with _you?”_

“With me!” Beetlejuice said, beaming and bouncing where he sat. It was still a bit of a shock, but the fact Adam and Barbara wanted him just made him so happy. Happier than he’d ever been.

“Aren’t those your ghost parents?” Jayden wondered, looking at Lydia.

Lydia smiled, though her brows were still so high up her face they were nearly hidden by her bangs. “I didn’t know you guys liked each other like that.”

“Aww, cute,” Zoe said, clasping her hands together.

“Dude, you’re like, how old? How do you not know what a date is?” Jayden asked, sounding amused.

Beetlejuice narrowed his eyes. “Well, _dude,_ most of the time I bang and leave, or they leave, like, “well that was fun, see ya never”, never calling me or wanting to kiss or anything else and I know I don’t really seem like it but sometimes it’d be nice to have a little more than that, except I don’t even know what that means either.” He grimaced and looked at the floor. He’d been rambling again.

“Wow, nice, you made him go purple,” Lydia huffed, smacking Jayden’s arm.

Jayden rubbed at his arm, then turned to Beetlejuice. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to make you sad.”

“Psshhh, I’m not sad,” Beetlejuice protested. “Now, someone tell me what a date is. Chop, chop!” He clapped his hands for emphasis.

Zoe grinned. “Well, dates are where you spend time with your crush or your partner—or in this case partners—and get to know them. Or just have fun together,” she said with a giggle.

“That’s it? We already know each other!” Beetlejuice threw his hands up and collapsed back onto the floor. “I don’t get it.”

Lydia snorted. “Do you really know everything about each other? There’s nothing else to learn?”

Beetlejuice huffed. “Okay, point. But how’s it different than just sitting here talking?” he asked, floating into the air. He flipped around and crossed his arms under his chin.

“Um, I’ve never actually been on one, but from what I know from movies, books, TV shows, and video games, you go out and do activities. Like going out to dinner, or to see movies at a movie theater, dancing, seeing a play, things like that,” Zoe explained, keeping track of her list on her fingers.

Jayden nodded. “Yeah, basically that. Though there are also home dates, where people just watch movies at home, or whatever.”

“Whoa,” Beetlejuice muttered, arms dangling. “That’s a lot.”

“That’s why people stress over it,” Lydia said, shrugging a single shoulder.

Beetlejuice sunk back to the floor. “Great.”

Zoe reached over at patted his back. “Hey, don’t worry too much about it. You _do_ know them, so you’d know what kind of things they like doing, right? Just go with that!” She settled her hands in her lap and pursed her lips. “And, not to be rude, but I think a good place to start would be with taking a shower.”

Beetlejuice sniffed his own armpit. “Oh yeah. I forget you breathers are all picky about smells.” He whined a bit. “Do I really have to?”

“The last time you and Lydia came to hang out with us at my place, my mom thought something had died in the walls,” Zoe said. “I’d say, yeah. You do.”

“Besides, if you do, people might want to hang around you more,” Lydia pointed out with a smirk.

“…You think so?” Beetlejuice asked, eyes wide. He’d never considered that. But it made some kind of sense that if people liked the way he smelled, they’d stick around. Maybe Adam and Barbara would want to hug and kiss him more...

Jayden nodded enthusiastically. “For sure.”

Beetlejuice jumped to his feet. “I’ll do it!” he declared, fisted hands on his hips in a comically determined pose. It only lasted for a moment before he deflated. “I still don’t know what to do for the dates, though.”

“Oh! I have an idea,” Zoe piped up. “We could watch some cheesy rom-coms!”

Lydia laughed. “Yeah, good idea. Plus we can make fun of how bad they are.”

“To Netflix!” Jayden exclaimed.

“To Netflix!” Lydia and Zoe echoed.

They set up a pile of pillows and blankets, while Beetlejuice used blankets he’d materialized to create a canopy. With a snap of his fingers, buckets of popcorn appeared. Well, his had bugs, but he’d learned humans generally didn’t enjoy eating beetles, buttered or not.

“Perfect,” Lydia decided, settling into the fort with her laptop.

Beetlejuice situated himself beside her, with Zoe on her other side and Jayden next to him. Lydia chose a movie, and set the laptop on his belly so they could all see. Now this was the sort of research Beetlejuice could get into.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, everyone! I just really wanted to get this chapter right. Hopefully it did, lol. Thanks again to everyone who's been reading and leaving comments/kudos. You guys are awesome!

Barbara was a little surprised when Beetlejuice had said he wanted to take her on a date first. She’d expected them all to go on one together, or for him to want to go out with Adam first. Speaking of Adam, he hadn’t minded in the least, saying he’d wanted to help Lydia with a school project that Saturday anyway. With anyone else, Barbara would’ve assumed he’d have said that so they wouldn’t feel bad, but she knew Adam was genuine.

But that wasn’t the only surprise. As she and Beetlejuice left the house, she noticed something. Beetlejuice actually smelled _good._ Like freshly turned dirt, moss, and that sweet smell of fallen leaves. Barbara looked up at Beetlejuice. “Did you shower?”

Beetlejuice’s mouth twisted this way and that, and he rubbed at the back of his neck with his free hand. “Maybe...” He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “Why? Do I still smell bad?”

“No! Not at all,” Barbara assured, leaning against him as they walked. She kissed his cheek, finally not needing to hold her breath to do so. It was clear Beetlejuice had cleaned up for their sake, and Barbara couldn’t help but be pleased. “You smell wonderful, Beej.”

“Yeah?” Beetlejuice’s hair turned an even brighter shade of green than usual.

Barbara nodded, squeezing his hand. “So, where are we going?”

Beetlejuice smirked. “Not sayin’. You’ll have to wait and see.”

And with that, Beetlejuice lead the way into town. Barbara noticed that people weren’t paying any attention to Beeltejuice, which was odd, until she realized he must have turned himself invisible. Perhaps he had more energy to do so since he was only keeping Barbara tethered to Earth.

They were walking down the sidewalk when Barbara’s vision went dark. “Wha!?” It took her a moment to realize it was Beetlejuice. He’d grown two more arms in order to cover her eyes. “Beetlejuice!”

“Gotta make sure the date stays a surprise,” Beetlejuice chuckled.

Barbara gave a little huff, more amused than annoyed. “Are we almost there, then?” she asked, allowing him to guide her along. Of course he didn’t answer, except to give one of his raspy giggles. Barbara sighed, giving in to the fact that it was truly going to be a surprise.

She didn’t have to wait long, however. That strange fuzzy feeling of phasing through something buzzed along her body.

“Surprise!” Beetlejuice exclaimed, his extra hands disappearing.

Blinking to adjust her eyes to the sudden light, Barbara looked around. They were in a long room with a bunch of other people, none of whom noticed them and were instead listening to a man and woman who appeared to be teachers of some kind. One wall was all mirrors, a large unused fan was tucked away in one corner, and there was a table with someone’s phone and bag set on top of it.

“Okay everyone, find your partner. Today, like we said, we’re working on the Foxtrot,” the woman said, moving to stand face to face with the man. “We’ll start by getting into basic hold.”

Barbara gave a little gasp, and she looked up at Beetlejuice. “Is this a dance class?”

“Uh-huh!” Beetlejuice grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “You said dancing was fun, so I thought you’d wanna do something like this.”

“Yes! I’d love to,” Barbara said, beaming. She laughed as Beetlejuice pulled her towards the back of the class, and they copied the hold the others had gotten into, one of his large hands resting between her shoulder blades as she placed one hand on his bicep. Barbara hadn’t been sure what to expect for a date when it came to Beetlejuice, but this was a pleasant surprise. And the fact that he remembered some offhand comment she’d made? Barbara was thoroughly impressed.

As they followed the instructor’s lead, moving across the dance floor while avoiding the other members of the class, Barbara realized she’d been paying far too much attention to them, wanting to get the steps perfect. She turned her head and her eyes widened. Beetlejuice was watching her with a smile, probably had been for some time, and his hair had acquired some pink streaks.

“Having fun?” Beetlejuice asked, hopeful.

“I am,” Barbara replied. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, taking note of his little jump at the action. “Thank you.”

Beetlejuice’s hair went full pink.

Barbara’s smile brightened. “There’s something I’ve been wondering.”

“Shoot.”

“Your hair, when it changes colors, do you know what the colors all mean?” Barbara asked. She had a feeling she knew what pink meant now, but she wanted to be sure.

Beetlejuice looked away, muttering to himself.

“What was that?”

“Yes and no,” Beetlejuice said with a sigh. His eyes rolled up so he could glare at his hair. Or attempt to. “My hair’s usually only ever been green, purple, or red. So I know those ones, but there’s been a lotta new ones recently, and I don’t get ‘em.”

Barbara hummed thoughtfully. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed about it. I like the way your hair changes,” she said with a soft smile. “I think pink has to be my favorite. Other than green, that is.”

Beetlejuice chewed on his bottom lip, but he met Barbara’s gaze. “Guess it ain’t too bad, then,” he said after a moment. His shy smile turned into a full on smirk as he spun them across the floor, and dipped her. “Now I get to ask a question.”

“Please do,” Barbara laughed.

“Uh… I guess I don’t have a specific question,” Beetleuice said with a sheepish grin. “Just wanna know more about ya.”

Barbara tilted her head. “Like what?”

“Like _anything,”_ Beetlejuice insisted.

“Okaayyy….” Barbara had to think about what exactly to share. Funny how, when asked something simple, your brain just blanked. “Oh, well, I guess I could start with the fact I grew up in Vermont. I don’t know if you’d believe it, but I was actually a bit of a wild child,” she said with a giggle. “I had this whole punk thing going on in middle school and a little into high school.”

Beetlejuice snickered. “I believe it.”

Barbara grinned. But then it fell. “My parents weren’t too happy about it. They had reputations to think of. And then they divorced. That’s when my mom and I moved here to Connecticut, for my last two years of high school. I tried to behave better, especially when I met Adam.” Her smile returned. “He was so adorable, such a nerd. Unfortunately, that meant he had to deal with bullies, but once I showed up and scared them off, they stopped bothering him as much.”

“Wow!” Beetlejuice laughed. “Nice, Babs. Wish I could’ve seen _that.”_

“It probably wasn’t as impressive as you’re imagining it,” Barbara said with a fond shake of her head.

“I dunno, you can be scary in your own way,” Beetlejuice replied, shrugging.

Barbara arched an eyebrow. “I thought you said we weren’t scary at all?”

Beetlejuice chuckled. “Well, I guess I mean intimidating. Not scary like _me.”_

“Fair enough,” Barbara said with a grin. It was then she realized something. They were floating. She looked down. Not only that, but at some point the class had ended. Barbara looked back up at Beetlejuice. “When did we start floating?”

“Huh… good question,” Beetlejuice said, looking around. He brought them both down to earth. With a small laugh, he added, “Guess I was a little too happy.”

Barbara shook her head and leaned up, pressing her lips to his chapped ones. It was much more enjoyable kissing him when he’d actually brushed his teeth. “There’s no such thing as too happy,” she said.

* * *

“Ugh, I swear, that dude was more boring than the Mailtands were,” Beetlejuice complained as he followed Lydia out of the old factory.

They’d been to visit another ghost that Lydia had taken a picture of. William had been surprised, but thrilled that someone had wanted to talk to him. If only he’d had more interesting things to talk about than how to clean the machines that no longer existed.

Lydia snorted. “Aren’t you dating them now? Shouldn’t you be nicer?”

“I said _were,”_ Beetlejuice replied with a huff. He smirked and waggled his eyebrows. “They’re a lot more interesting now.”

“I don’t want to know,” Lydia muttered, making Beetlejuice cackle. She paused by her bike and looked up at him. “Hey, Beetlejuice, there’s something I’ve been wondering about...”

Beetlejuice tilted his head. “Okay?”

“Is necromancy real?” Lydia asked.

“What?”

“Is necromancy real?” Lydia repeated with a roll of her eyes.

Beetlejuice shook his head. “I heard you, just, was _not_ expecting that as your question.” He floated into the air, arms crossed. “But yeah, it’s real. Why?”

Lydia tapped her foot and set her hands on her hips with a small sigh. “I was just thinking, if it was real, maybe we could bring Adam and Barbara back to life? Actually, originally I thought pf my mom, but since I don’t even know where he ghost is, I don’t know if it’d work. But with Adam and Barbara I thought, if they were alive, and since you guys are dating, maybe if you got married you could be alive, too?”

To say Beetlejuice was shocked would be an understatement. Lydia actually wanted them all to be alive? Beetlejuice sunk to the ground and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her in a bear hug. “Wow, Lyds, I’m all mushy feeling!”

Lydia wheezed out a laugh, but hugged him back. “You’re ridiculous.”

“But nah, even if I wanted to be alive—which I don’t, that was too crazy even for me—it wouldn’t work. Not for Adam and Babs,” Beetlejuice said, letting go. He scratched at his chin. “I mean, yeah you need the ghosts of whoever you wanna bring back, but you also need their bodies. And in good condition. It’s been… uh… how long since they died?”

“I think like, ten months?” Lydia said, squinting as she thought.

“Yeah, they ain’t coming back. They’re nothing but juice and bones now,” Beetlejuice explained.

Lydia’s nose wrinkled. “Ew.” She sighed. “That’s too bad. Not that I even know how to do it anyway.”

Beetlejuice clapped her on the back. “It was a nice thought, Lyds, but yeah. Probably better not to mess with that stuff. Besides, they’d never marry me even if it had worked out like that.”

* * *

Adam smiled as Barbara gave him a parting kiss.

“I love you, have fun!” she said. Barbara turned and kissed Beetlejuice’s cheek. “You, too.”

“Well, if our date is anything like yours was, I’m sure we will,” Adam replied. He kissed her back. “I love you, too.”

Beetlejuice grinned. “You bet your sweet ass we will,” he agreed, grabbing Adam’s hand. “It’s kinda far, though, so we should go now.”

Adam nodded. “Alright, let’s go-OH!” He yelped as Beetlejuice practically dragged him from the house, making him trip over his own feet. “Wait, wait, calm down!”

“Really?” Beetlejuice whined, slowing a little. “You don’t wanna be late do ya?”

“No, not that you’ll tell me what we’re doing. You really like surprises don’t you?” Adam huffed, catching up enough so that he could walk beside him.

“Yep!”

It turned out that, with a little extra effort, Beetlejuice was able to teleport—or whatever he liked to call it—several miles. Despite being ghosts, and therefor unable to tire from walking long distances, it was a bit of a relief to get where they were going faster. Even if Adam felt a little nauseous after the fifth time.

“Uh, here, this way,” Beetlejuice said after a bit, and instead of just making them appear wherever, he led the way down off the highway and along a new road. Adam couldn’t take his eyes off the rows of old, stately homes lining the street. Then, finally, their destination became clear.

“The Mark Twain House?” Adam gasped.

Beetlejuice beamed at him. “Yeah! I mean, you are a big nerd, so I figured you’d like something like this.”

Adam couldn’t find it in himself to be offended at being called a nerd; it was true anyway. It was impossible to be when they were walking down the long, dirt drive towards the mansion, past newly blooming flowers. The closer they got, the more the American Gothic details became apparent; curving arches, intricately carved spandrels and columns, and the unique brick designs along the facade.

They phased through the heavy wooden front door and into the front entrance.

“Perk of being dead, free admission! And free tour,” Beetlejuice said, tugging Adam over to where a group was just getting started.

So that was why Beetlejuice was so insistent about being on time. Adam smiled, leaning into Beetlejuice’s side as they joined the tour. “This is amazing,” he said softly. Despite no-one being able to hear them, it felt wrong to talk too loud. “How did you come up with this?”

Beetlejuice rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh… to be honest, Lydia mentioned this place,” he replied with a shrug.

Adam squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek. Beetlejuice’s hair went completely pink as he ducked his head, a shy smile creeping along his lips. Before Adam could think of something to say about that, the tour guide started up, catching his attention.

The tour ended up being a lot of fun. Beetlejuice couldn’t seem to keep from making sarcastic remarks, or even chiming in with tidbits of his own information. Apparently he’d haunted Mark Twain for a few days. Adam was absolutely fascinated by it all.

As the tour passed by the conservatory, Beetlejuice pulled him inside and amongst the plants.

“What are you doing?” Adam asked, brow furrowed.

“I can only take so much history crap,” Beetlejuice said with a smirk. “There’s much better things we could do.”

The quiet bubbling of the little fountain echoed throughout the room. Sunlight filtered through the glass domed ceiling, highlighting the way Beetlejuice’s hair matched the vibrant yellow-greens surrounding them.

Adam had a feeling he knew what Beetlejuice was up to, and yet he still found himself asking anyway. “Like what?”

“Like this.” Beetlejuice pressed Adam up against a window and leaned down, kissing him fiercely. A muffled “oof” escaped Adam, but he relaxed into the kiss. His fingers curled into the lapel of Beetlejuice’s jacket and he tilted his head, lips parting to allow Beetlejuice to slip his tongue between them.

Beetlejuice had been right. This was much better.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't expecting this scene to take up an entire chapter, but here we are, lol. Anyway, I'm glad I got it done in time, because I'll be seeing the musical tomorrow!! :D So, please enjoy this fun little chapter, and thank you once again for all the wonderful comments and kudos!

Beetlejuice paced in the living room, muttering to himself. Adam and Barbara had wanted some time to themselves. Now normally, that wouldn’t be an issue since he could hang out with Lydia. Except this time, Lydia was at school taking a test, and she hadn’t wanted him around to distract her.

Which meant he was alone.

With his thoughts.

Like, what if Adam and Barbara spending time alone made them realize they liked that better? That Beetlejuice was an unnecessary addition to their relationship? Or maybe it _was_ just a really elaborate prank and they actually hated him… Beetlejuice shook his head. No, they just wanted some alone time. They _were_ married. They were used to having time to just be by themselves. He was just being paranoid. Right? And if he went up there to make sure they really didn’t hate him, he’d be annoying them and then they would hate him. Beetlejuice tugged at his hair. He needed a distraction!

Delia’s voice floated out from the kitchen. That’s right, Delia had stayed home that day. Beetlejuice darted into the kitchen, fully intending to yell at her to pay attention to him, when he realized she was on the phone. Pouting, he drifted over to the breakfast nook where she sat writing something down on a pad of paper, and dropped into the seat across from her.

She looked up with a start, but when he just gave her a small half-smile, she returned it and finished up her call. “Thank you for not interrupting,” Delia said. “What’s up?”

Beetlejuice shrugged and traced a finger along the wooden table top. “Adam and Babs are spending “quality time” together and Lydia’s at school. Figured I’d come bug you.”

Delia laughed. “Really?” She grinned. “Then this works for both of us!”

“Huh?” Beetlejuice frowned and tilted his head.

“That phone call just now was about the venue for Charles’ and I’s wedding,” Delia explained, clapping her hands together. “Now, I would’ve liked to have Charles and Lydia go along with me, but the only time I could get in to see it this month was today. Why don’t you come with me?”

It didn’t sound like something he’d usually be into, but Beetlejuice figured it’d be a good distraction. Besides, it was nice to be included in things. “Sure,” he agreed. “When are we going?”

“We should probably get going now—oh!” Delia’s brows furrowed and she gave a little hum. “There’s just one problem.”

“What?”

Delia sighed. “Not that there’s anything wrong with your style, but, this venue is a little more… well…” she drifted off, seemingly unsure how to finish her comment. “Fancy? And human.”

Ah, so that was all. Beetlejuice nodded and stood. “I can do that,” he said, and snapped his fingers. “How’s this?”

“That’s perfect!” Delia chirped, bouncing to her feet.

In the reflection from the window, Beetlejuice could see his new look. His hair was completely brown now, and while still a little wild, it had been slicked back. Not only that, but his suit had become a simple black and white pinstriped suit. He looked a little like a mobster, but at least he looked human, and he couldn’t help but preen a little.

“Except for one thing,” Delia said, staring pointedly at his face.

Beetlejuice blinked and he slouched. “What’s wrong with my face?”

Delia’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “Oh no, I didn’t meant to imply—there’s nothing wrong with your face. You have a very handsome face,” she replied with a smile. “Only...” Delia gestured to her own face. Specifically around her hairline and nose. “You still have some, is it moss?”

“Oh.” Beetlejuice grimaced and rubbed at his face. “I can’t do anything about it. No matter what form I take it’s always there. Even as an animal it’s usually just covered by fur or feathers or whatever.”

Delia tapped her chin, lips pursed in thought. “I know!” she exclaimed, bustling from the kitchen. “Wait right there!”

Beetlejuice didn’t have much of a choice. Delia was back moments later, bottles, little flat box things, and what looked like poofy paint brushes in her hands. It took him a second to realize it was makeup stuff. “What’re you doin’ with that?”

“Sit,” Delia said, pointing at the bench.

Beetlejuice wanted to be offended, but he figured he’d just do as she said and sat. Delia grabbed a towel that hung from the oven door and draped it over his chest.

“To keep things clean.” Delia’s smile brightened and she opened a bottle of pale cream. “I hope Lydia doesn’t mind me borrowing this, but her complexion is far closer to yours than mine is. Now close your eyes.”

“Okay…?” Beetleuice closed his eyes with a huff. The feeling of something creamy being slathered on his face made his nose scrunch.

Delia _tsked_ him. “Stop that, it’ll mess this up.”

There was pressure around Beetlejuice’s nose, then under his eyes, the creases around his mouth, and finally under his chin and down his neck. A few plastic clicks, a brush dusted over and under his eyes, then around his hair line. When it swept under his nose he sneezed.

“Oh!” Delia laughed. “Sorry, I should’ve warned you. Anyway, I think we’re done.”

“Finally,” Beetlejuice groaned, opening his eyes. Delia shoved a hand mirror at him and he peered into it. He looked, well, good. For human standards anyway. Beetlejuice smiled and tilted his head this way and that, admiring the work. “I look alive.”

“Exactly!” Delia grabbed the makeup. “Let me put this away and we can go.”

Beetlejuice bounded to the orange car, Delia right behind him, and clambered into the passenger’s seat. Delia settled into the driver’s seat, tossed her purse into the back, and started the car. Some pop song Beetlejuice didn’t know the name of blared from the radio. Delia quickly turned it down.

“I always enjoy some tunes while driving,” she said. “I can change it to something else if you want?”

“Nah, I don’t care,” Beetlejuice said with a shrug.

Delia grinned. “Great.”

It was only after they’d bumped across the little red bridge that Beetlejuice started playing with the buttons on the car door. The door locked and unlocked, then the window rolled down. Beetlejuice stuck his head out. “Whoa!” he laughed. “I can catch so many bugs like this!”

“Don’t you dare,” Delia chided, a hint of amusement in her tone. “We didn’t get you all dressed up for you to show up with bugs in your teeth.”

“Fiiine,” Beetlejuice whined. Still he enjoyed the breeze in his face. Sure he could fly a little, but it wasn’t exactly fast unless he took bird or bug form, and then the sensation was different because of the feathers or fur or shell.

Delia glanced his way. “You act like you’ve never been in a car before.”

Beetlejuice sat properly and rolled the window back up. “I haven’t. I mean, I have, but it was usually only ever to scare people. Why would I need to use a car when I can just appear wherever I want?” he replied with a roll of his eyes.

“Oh, yes, you have a point,” Delia said, tilting her head. She smiled at him. “Then this can be a little road trip!”

It took a surprisingly short time for them both to end up blasting the radio, singing along loudly to Uptown Funk. Beetlejuice even added backup vocals.

_ “I’m too hot! Hot damn! Say my name you know who I am—”_

“Beetlejuice!” Delia chimed in.

Beetlejuice snorted. Then chuckled. He ended up full on cackling while Delia continued the chorus, drumming her hands against the steering wheel. The two of them were still laughing and singing by the time they pulled up to their destination.

The venue was a mansion of both stone and wooden shingles, with large circular rooms jutting off to the sides, and soaring gabels. Manicured shrubbery and pink and white flowering bushes lined the sides of the curved driveway.

As they headed up to the front doors, Beetlejuice gave a low whistle. “Fancy. Yeah, guess it’s a good thing I didn’t come as myself,” he chuckled.

The doors opened and a woman in a sleek gray blazer and matching pencil skirt stepped out. “Right on time,” she said with a broad smile, tucking a few loose strands of blonde hair behind her ear. The woman held out her hand. “You must be Delia. I’m Rosalie, we spoke on the phone.”

“Yes, so nice to meet you,” Delia replied, shaking her hand.

Rosalie returned the sentiment before looking at Beetlejuice. “I’m sorry, but Delia mentioned her fiance wasn’t coming, so I’m not sure…?”

“I’m her brother,” Beetlejuice lied smoothly. He shook her hand. “Lawrence.”

“Oh, how wonderful,” Rosalie replied. “We don’t often have brothers visit the venue. If it’s not the groom, then we usually see the mother of the bride-to-be or a sister. Even friends.”

Beetlejuice wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Breathers were so weird.

“Excuse me, why don’t we head inside,” Rosalie said, turning and leading them in. “As you can see, the building is both vintage and unique. Colonial Revival, actually, with classic New England charm. The ballroom, however, was influenced by the Art Deco movement.”

Delia seemed pleased, though Beetlejuice tuned out the conversation after a minute. She showed them the dinning room, ballroom, and sun room, before taking them out to the garden in the back, talking a mile a minute the entire time.

“Why don’t you two take the time to explore the English garden and the house a little more without me? I always find it hard to make a decision when it feels like there’s an expected response,” Rosalie said with a quiet laugh. “I’ll be in the dinning room if you need me. We have a couple sample dishes for you to try if you’d like when you’re ready.”

“Wow. And people think I talk too much,” Beetlejuice said with a snort as soon as she was inside.

Delia shook her head. “Don’t be rude, she’s been very attentive. Honestly I already think this place is a yes! And on such short notice, too.”

“Short notice?” Beetlejuice asked as they followed the garden path.

“Mhm, we were originally going to have the wedding at home in July. That way Adam and Barbara could come,” Delia replied. She rested her hand on Beetlejuice’s arm. “But now that you’re here, and they can leave the house with you, Charles and I decided we could afford to have a proper venue.”

Beetlejuice’s eyes widened. “I can come?”

Delia nodded. “Of course! You would’ve been welcome whether we changed the venue or not.”

That… was unexpected. Especially considering how well the last wedding he was involved with went. Beetlejuice grinned.

“And it’s even more special since you three are dating. It will be such a romantic day,” Delia sighed happily.

“Wait, how’d you know we’re dating?” Beetlejuice asked with a frown. Not that he was hiding it. Honestly, he was so happy he wanted the world to know he was dating the two sexiest ghosts on earth! But he hadn’t actually said anything, and neither had Adam or Barbara. As far as he knew…

“Lydia told me, of course,” Delia replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. “We’re all very happy for you three!”

Beetlejuice gave a little sigh of relief. Not that he’d have cared if Delia had had a problem with it. Why had that even been a momentary worry? It must’ve been the new emotions he’d been feeling. If he’d known being alive for even a minute would’ve gotten him so many annoying feelings, he wouldn’t have even tried.

That was a lie.

Even though most of the feelings were annoying, some were nice. Beetlejuice was sure if he hadn’t gone through all that, he wouldn’t be with the Maitlands, and that was worth anything. His gaze landed on a rose bush. Adam and Barbara liked pretty things, and Barbara really seemed to like flowers. Beetlejuice didn’t know much about romance, but he knew roses were usually given to those you loved. While Delia wasn’t looking, he plucked two and tucked them into his jacket.

* * *

Beetlejuice floated up through the stairs and stopped on the landing in front of the attic door. The door to Adam and Barbara’s bedroom had been open, so that meant they were probably in the attic. He knocked.

“It’s open,” Barbara called.

Grinning, Beetlejuice phased through the door. “Hey Babes. Babs,” he greeted.

“Oh my!” Barbara exclaimed when she turned to face him. “Beetlejuice? What did you do to your face? And hair?”

“Oh yeah, forgot to change back.” Beetlejuice shook himself like a wet dog; his hair fluffed up, neon green blazing through the brown, and the black pinstripe suit melted away to reveal his usual black and white striped suit. He rubbed at his face, smearing away the makeup. “There!”

Barbara laughed. “Too bad, you looked nice all cleaned up like that.” When Beetlejuice pouted she shook her head and kissed him. “I wasn’t saying I don’t like the way you normally look.”

“Exactly,” Adam agreed, setting down the model of their old hardware store. He walked over and kissed him too. “You’re always handsome.”

Beetlejuice blinked. He wasn’t used to compliments, especially not about the way he looked. “Oh! Uh, almost forgot!” Beetlejuice exclaimed, reaching into his jacket. He rooted around in the pockets until he found what he’d been looking for. With a noise of triumph, Beetlejuice pulled out both red roses and held them out to Adam and Barbara.

“You got these for us?” Barbara asked, though the answer was obvious. She took the rose and smelled it, as did Adam.

“They’re beautiful,” Adam remarked.

“Delia wanted to check out a place for her and Chuck’s wedding. There was a garden there, and I thought you’d like ‘em,” Beetlejuice explained, puffing out his chest.

Adam and Barbara exchanged a look, and little exasperated smiles. They leaned in and kissed both of Beetlejuice’s cheeks.

“Thank you, cuddlebug, you’re so sweet,” Barbara said.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I keep saying it, but really, all your comments are so so nice and I'm just so flattered that people are enjoying this story. So thank you all!

“Okaaayyy… it should be right around here…. Somewhere...” Beetlejuice muttered, leading Adam and Barbara through the trees.

“How do you lose a waterfall?” Adam asked with a quiet laugh. He kept trying to go around bushes and stumps instead of through them, despite the multiple times Beetlejuice and Barbara reminded him he was a ghost and he could just walk through them.

Beetlejuice rolled his eyes. “Jeez, gimme a break, I only have Lydia’s directions to go off of.”

“Well, I do hear water, so we must be close,” Barbara pointed out.

“Really?” Beetlejuice looked around, listening closely. Sure enough, a little ways off, he could hear the rush of water. “Ha! I knew where I was going the whole time! This way!”

They passed through some bushes and a log before coming upon a small clearing. Water tumbled down small outcroppings of rocks and down into a clear pool, before spilling out into a little river which curved through the clearing and disappeared back into the trees. Nestled in the grass among the buttercups and dandelions was a black and white checkered blanket, and a little brown basket.

“A picnic?” Barbara asked, eyes wide.

“Yes! And no!” Beetlejuice tugged them over to the blanket and made them sit with him. “You guys can’t eat, obviously, so I tried to do something a little different.” An extra pair of arms extended out from his sides and he dragged the basket over. He flipped open the top and pulled out two Yankee Candles, one a red-ish pink and the other sage green.

Adam and Barbara looked at Beetlejuice, each other, and then took the offered candles. “White Strawberry Bellini?” Adam asked, taking a sniff. “Oh! That’s so good!”

“So is this one!” Barbara exclaimed, having taken a whiff of Alfresco Afternoon.

Beetlejuice perked up. “So you guys like it? I figured since you couldn’t eat the food, you could smell it at least,” he explained as Adam tried the Vanilla Cupcake.

Barbara took a final sniff of Grilled Peaches & Vanilla before leaning over to kiss Beetlejuice. “We love it,” she said.

Adam nodded and kissed his cheek. “We do!”

A relieved sigh escaped Beetlejuice, and he wrapped his extra arms around them. He smiled as they cuddled into his sides.

“You know you can eat if you want? Just because we can’t, that doesn’t mean we mind if you do,” Barbara told him, trading Adam the Vineyard for Picnic In The Park.

“Oh, I ate a big juicy fly and a lot of those little spiders earlier, so I’m good,” Beetlejuice replied with a shrug. He squeezed Barbara’s waist and Adam’s hip and leered at them. “I did save room for _dessert_, though.”

Adam nearly dropped his candle, cheeks flushing. “O-oh!”

“Beetlejuice,” Barbara scolded halfheartedly, smacking his arm even as she tried not to laugh. Though they still acted scandalized, it was clear they weren’t put off like they had been when they’d first met him.

“You guys are so easy,” Beetlejuice snickered.

After a moment Adam spoke up. “This might sound crazy but… I just feel so energized!”

“No, I feel it too,” Barbara agreed.

Beetlejuice looked at them. “Wait, you didn’t know? I thought you’ve been studying that stupid book?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. “Water—well, moving water anyway—gives ghosts energy. I don’t get how it works, but it does.”

“Hm. Well, water has been used for energy in various ways, so I’m not entirely surprised,” Adam said, head tilted as he thought.

Barbara gave a little gasp. “We could go swimming!” She beamed at them. “We don’t have to worry about whether it’s cold or not! And since we’re here, maybe we could!”

“That sounds like fun,” Adam said, smiling just as bright. He looked at Beetlejuice. “What do you say?”

“Sure,” Beetlejuice replied. He’d never done much swimming, though he was capable of doing so. Adam and Barbara seemed really into the idea, however, so there was no way he’d turn it down. Not when they smiled at him like that.

Barbara bounced a little and grinned. “Let’s see if I can make a swimsuit,” she said. Closing her eyes, her nose scrunched up in concentration, then she snapped her fingers. Her dress was replaced by a sunny yellow, halter-top swimsuit. “Yes! Exactly what I was going for!”

_ “Nice. _Lookin’ good, Babs. But you sure you wouldn’t wanna wear a bikini instead?” Beetlejuice asked, waggling his eyebrows.

“I’m sure,” Barbara replied with a huff of amusement. She turned to Adam. “Your turn, honey.”

“Oh, right!” Adam ignored Beetlejuice’s excited look and thought about his own change of clothes. Snapping his fingers changed his usual outfit into a pair of green swim trunks.

Beetlejuice whistled. “Damn, Babes, I always knew you were sexy under all that plaid.”

“Alright, now it’s your turn,” Barbara giggled as she and Adam pulled him to his feet, the extra arms disappearing.

Beetlejuice sighed. “Okay, fine.” With a thought, he was left in his striped shirt—the first couple of buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up—and black swim trunks patterned with skulls and green beetles.

Adam and Barbara stepped into the river first, matching gasps coming from both Maitlands.

“It feels so strange,” Adam said, watching the water flow through his ankles. Some of it seemed to part around him as it would’ve had he been alive, but barely.

Barbara nodded. “But kind of nice?”

“Yes, nice.”

Beetlejuice smiled, amused, and followed them into the pool beneath the waterfall. When the water reached his hips, he froze. If he went further his shirt would get wet, and then they might see… It took a moment for Adam and Barbara to realize he hadn’t followed them fully in, due to his arms extending to allow them to go as far as they wanted.

“Don’t tell me you’re just going to stand there?” Barbara asked with a light laugh, hair swirling around her shoulders in the water. At Beetlejuice’s shrug she shook her head and waded into the shallow end. “Come on, join us.”

“You know how to swim, right?” Adam asked, his tone gentle.

“Of course I do!” Beetlejuice retorted, snorting indignantly. “I just, uh, don’t wanna get my shirt wet.”

They made their way back over to him. “Then take it off?” Barbara pointed out.

“Here.” Before Beetlejuice could protest, Adam snapped his fingers and his shirt disappeared. His eyes widened, and Barbara’s free hand covered her mouth in shock.

Beetlejuice flinched, a third arm appearing so he could cover his chest. “Dammit!”

“Beetlejuice, is that…” Barbara pried his hand away.

“Don’t look!” Beetlejuice snapped.

Adam’s fingers gently traced over the large scar just below his chest. “This is from the wedding, isn’t it?”

Beetlejuice looked away from them. He nodded. “It won’t go away. Not like the others… I’m a demon, for fucks sake! It should’ve faded!”

“The others?” Adam questioned. He shook his head, and squeezed Beetlejuice’s hand. “Did you think we’d be disgusted or something?”

“…I thought you’d hate me again. ‘Cause of the reminder of what I did,” Beetlejuice mumbled.

“Oh… No, of course we wouldn’t,” Barbara soothed. She cupped his cheek, before sliding her arm around him to pull him into a hug.

Beetlejuice closed his eyes and rested his chin on her head. Adam’s head dropped to his shoulder, and he pet Beetlejuice’s hairy chest.

“That’s not something you have to worry about, Woollybear,” Adam said. “We promise.”

“Exactly,” Barbara agreed.

A soft sigh fell from Beetlejuice’s lips as he relaxed. He should’ve trusted that they wouldn’t be mad with him. Beetlejuice had never felt so lucky before. He didn’t even mind the silly pet names they’d come up with for him. It just meant they really cared.

But things were getting too sappy. Beetlejuice had thought they could have some fun, not turn the date into a mope fest. A grin stretched his lips. “Hey guys?”

“Mmmh?”

“CANNONBALL!” Beetlejuice gripped them tight and leapt, the three of them landing in the deep end with a huge splash. They popped back to the top, Adam and Barbara gasping for air they’d forgotten they didn’t need.

“Beetlejuice!” Barbara exclaimed, splashing him in retaliation.

Cackling, Beetlejuice returned the favor, splashing her back. A shot to the back of his head had him whirling around to face Adam. “Playin’ dirty, eh?”

“Oh no...” Adam flinched as Beetlejuice sent a massive wave at him, using extra limbs to his advantage. He toppled backwards with a laugh. Beetlejuice laughed even harder, until Barbara splashed him in the face.

“No fair! You two are teaming up on me,” Beetlejuice complained, though his smile ruined the effect.

“Pay back for doing that cannonball,” Barbara said with a smirk.

“Exactly,” Adam sputtered, rubbing at his face. “Besides, you have how many arms? I’d say we’re evenly matched.”

Beetlejuice hummed and nodded. “Good point,” he said. And splashed them both at once.

The “war” continued for a little bit, until the three of them called truce. Beetlejuice ended up floating on his back after that, with Adam and Barbara floating beside him, the current from the waterfall spinning them lazily through the water.

“I haven’t had so much fun in years,” Barbara sighed. She flinched and looked over at Adam.

Adam smiled at her. “You’re right. It’s funny how we’ve only really started living, now that we’re dead.”

Beetlejuice glanced between them with a small smile. “No-one said the afterlife had to be boring.”

“That would be impossible with you around,” Barbara giggled, entwining her fingers with Beetlejuice’s.

“Good,” Beetlejuice said, smirking.

Eventually they got out of the water and settled back on the blanket, dry and their clothes returned to normal. Adam and Barbara snuggled into his sides, their free arms draped over and around him. Beetlejuice tilted his head, brushing his lips against Barbara’s. They were soft, and a little cold, but even so warmth bubbled in his chest. Her sigh was music to his ears, and her faint sweat-pea perfume—the one she’d put on in the morning on the day of their death—soothing.

They parted and Beetlejuice turned to see Adam watching them with a fond smile, cheek pressed against Beetlejuice’s shoulder. He perked up, and Beetlejuice quickly locked lips with him. Adam smiled into the kiss when their noses bumped, the angle slightly awkward, and still perfect. Traces of the Manchurian Tongue Oil danced across senses. Beetlejuice teased him with a swiped of his tongue, getting a full bodied shiver from him.

Adam pulled back, cheeks dusted pink, and rested his head on his shoulder again, Barbara matching him on Beetlejuice’s other side. For once, Beetlejuice didn’t feel the need to fill the silence that followed. He looked up through the treetops at the perfectly blue sky and golden sun high above, then at Adam and Barbara.

Yeah, he really was living the after-life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you noticed the rating/tag changes, you should know it's for the next chapter, which will be up in a day or two. I wanted to give some heads up in case any of my readers wish to skip over the smut when it happens, or would just like to be prepared for it. :)


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, this chapter is up sooner rather than later. I can't believe I wrote nearly 3k words of smut, omg, I hope you all enjoy it!  
And if you just want to skip to the fluff go to the page break, lol.

Had Adam been alive, his heart would’ve been pounding. He had been filled with anticipation all day, and now that they had finally returned home, he was ready. Well, ready as he would probably ever be. Of course he had discussed it all with Barbara that morning, and the day before. She’d threatened to tell Beetlejuice for him if he kept asking if it was okay because yes, she was perfectly fine with it all.

Adam met Barbara’s questioning gaze and nodded. She smiled and nodded back. Barbara turned and kissed Beetlejuice sweetly. “Thank you for the wonderful date,” she said.

He couldn’t help but smile at how flustered Beetlejuice got by the affection. How he could make the dirtiest jokes and handle make out sessions, but become so overwhelmed by a chaste peck or holding hands was a mystery.

Pulling away, Barbara turned and kissed Adam. As she headed for the stairs, she glanced back at them with a teasing smile. “Have fun you two.”

“Huh?” Beetlejuice looked over at Adam with a confused frown. “What’s she mean by that?”

“Oh, um… Well...” Adam took a breath, calming himself. He stepped into Beetlejuice’s space, slid his arms around his neck, and looked up into his wide, hazel eyes. “I have an idea.”

Adam pulled Beetlejuice down and pressed their lips together. Beetlejuice immediately responded, wrapping his own arms around Adam’s waist and dipping him. The slow slide of their lips, the way Beetlejuice’s hands splayed against his back, threatened to wipe all thought from Adam’s mind. He broke the kiss, much to Beetlejuice’s vocal disappointment.

“I’m ready,” Adam whispered.

It took Beetlejuice a moment to understand, but when he did, his hair went from bright green, to neon pink. “Yeah?” he asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“Yeah.” Adam pecked him on the lips, grabbed his hand, and hurried for the stairs. As soon as they made it to the bedroom, Beetlejuice had him crowded up against the door, kissing him senseless. Adam gripped the front of his suit, nipping at his bottom lip as they moved further into the room. Beetlejuice’s lips parted and Adam’s tongue brushed against his, before tracing along his fangs. A growl rumbled from Beetlejuice, and he pressed Adam against the wall, bodies touching from chest to hips, a pronounced bulge obvious in his pants.

Adam’s head thunked back against the cream, floral wallpaper with a moan as Beetlejuice kissed and licked and sucked his way down Adam’s neck. A slight scrape of fangs against the soft skin of his throat was all the warning he had before Beetlejuice bit down. “Ah!” Adam gasped, grabbing at Beetlejuice’s shoulders. “Wha?”

Beetlejuice sucked at the spot, before leaning back to smirk down at him. “I’m marking you up,” he said, his gaze heated.

It made Adam a little weak in the knees, and he was grateful for Beetlejuice pinning him to the wall, because he didn’t know if he could stand otherwise. “I-I see,” he replied, voice cracking. Beetlejuice’s large hand on his hip distracted him. It slid down his thigh, the heat seeping through Adam’s slacks and making him moan again as Beetlejuice urged it up against his own hip.

When Beetlejuice kissed him, it was like being devoured, all lips and teeth and tongue. Adam’s moans were swallowed, Beetlejuice’s rough grinding wringing them out of him, whether they could be heard or not. It was overwhelming. Adam turned his head away, panting. _“Beej…_ Beetlejuice, wait a second.”

“Hm?” Beetlejuice froze where he’d been kissing along his jaw. He pulled back a little. “Did I do something?”

“No, no, of course not,” Adam said, rubbing Beetlejuice’s arm. “I just… Well, I’ve never done _this_ before. I’ve only ever been with Barbara. So, um…”

Beetlejuice’s hold on him gentled, and he eased Adam’s leg back to the ground. Still, his smirk was dirty. “Oh, so I’m the first to pop this particular cherry, huh?”

Adam dropped his head forward against Beetlejuice’s shoulder to hide the blush he knew was spreading across his cheeks. “Yes.” Hands grabbed and squeezed his ass, causing Adam to jerk his head up with a yelp.

Beetlejuice kissed him. “I’m gonna make you feel _so good,”_ he breathed against Adam’s lips.

A shiver ran up and down Adam’s spine. “I don’t doubt it.” Feeling bold, he pushed Beetlejuice’s jacket off his shoulders, and Beetlejuice shrugged it off entirely. _Oh, well that’s not fair at all._ Adam licked his lips, hooking his fingers in Beetlejuice’s suspenders to tug him closer again.

“See somethin’ ya like?” Beetlejuice asked with a knowing grin.

Adam nodded, swallowing hard.

Beetlejuice chuckled. “Well now ya know how I’ve been feeling seeing you two every day, Sexy.”

“I’d apologize, but I don’t know if I really am sorry,” Adam replied with a laugh. With only some regret, he slid the suspenders down and off his arms, so they hung against his hips.

“Oh, someone’s getting feisty,” Beetlejuice teased, removing his tie and tossing it aside. He grabbed Adam and scooped him up.

“What are you doing?” Adam asked, clinging to Beetlejuice. He let out a little gasp as he was dropped on the bed. That answered that question. Then Beetlejuice was over him, pushing his way between Adam’s thighs, hands planted on either side of Adam’s head. His pupils were blown with lust, the black nearly eclipsing the hazel.

A warm, loamy scent enveloped Adam as Beetlejuice covered him with his body, lips gliding across his, occasionally pausing to leave a mark behind. Beetlejuice started up a torturously slow grind, dragging his clothed cock over Adam’s. Adam grasped at his biceps, moaning a little louder than before.

“Yeah, lemme hear you,” Beetlejuice groaned, voice even raspier. He unbuttoned Adam’s shirt, pressing opened mouth kisses to each inch of bared skin, a trail leading down to the band of his pants. Every kiss and hickey left Adam a gasping, moaning mess. “We’ve barely gotten started and you’re already like this? I love it.”

Adam hadn’t realized his eyes had even been closed until he opened them to see Beetlejuice looking up at him from where he was nipping his way back up to his chest. The flick of a tongue against his nipple, while the rough pads of Beetlejuice’s fingers closed around the other, punched a groan right out of him. Adam grabbed at Beetlejuice’s shoulders, arms, back, trying to get across that he wanted Beetlejuice’s shirt gone. And preferably everything else, too. But Beetlejuice seemed content to move at his own, surprisingly patient, pace.

“Kiss me?” Adam asked. It came out more like a whine, however, since Beetlejuice had chosen that moment to pinch him.

“Anything you want, Babes,” Beetlejuice crooned, and he kissed Adam hungrily.

Adam fumbled and plucked at the buttons of his shirt, popping them open one by one. Until they were no longer there. No clothes were. They were pressed skin to skin, completely bare. He trembled. Throwing his arms around Beetlejuice’s broad shoulders, Adam used the distraction of the kiss to roll them over so that he was straddling him.

Beetlejuice blinked up at him, then smirked. “Now what?”

Instead of answering with words, Adam leaned down to kiss him softly. He wanted to make Beetlejuice feel good, too. Adam held Beetlejuice’s face in his hands as they kissed, rubbing circles into his cheeks with his thumbs. Beetlejuice sighed, dragging his hands down Adam’s sides, palming at his hips.

Adam kissed the corner of his mouth, his jaw, and down his neck, earning pleased little hums and groans for his efforts. He caressed his belly, gently squeezed his soft sides, and bit down on his neck as payback for before. Beetlejuice hissed and swore, rutting up against Adam.

“Feeling good?” Adam asked, placing languid kisses across Beetlejuice’s jaw.

“Yeah,” Beetlejuice grunted.

“Good,” Adam breathed against his skin, reaching down between their bodies, brushing against Beetlejuice’s treasure trail. Beetlejuice finally let out a proper moan as Adam curled his fingers around his cock. It was big, hot and heavy in Adam’s hand. He’d never given a handjob before, but he supposed it couldn’t be too different than doing it to himself. Adam stroked, thumb swiping over the head, pre-cum slicking the way.

_ “Fuck,_ Adam,” Beetlejuice panted, hips jerking up into Adam’s hand. Adam couldn’t help but grind down against his thick thigh, turned on by his rough voice. “Oh yeah, that’s it, ride Daddy’s thigh.”

Adam shivered, and shot him a look.

Beetlejuice grinned, entirely unapologetic. “Guess we’ll save that for next time.”

Rolling his eyes—no way was he going to admit that he’d felt any pleasure from that—Adam kissed down Beetlejuice’s chest. Right over his scar. Looking up through his lashes, he saw Beetlejuice biting his lip, hard. It looked a little painful. Adam sat up and coaxed his lower lip out from under his, rather sizable, fangs and kissed him sweetly.

Beetlejuice growled, grabbed him, and flipped them around so Adam was on his back once more. He rested their foreheads together, gazing into Adam’s eyes.“Wanna know what I’m gonna do to you?”

Adam licked his lips. “What?”

“When I’m done blowing you, I’m eating you out. Gonna get you nice and wet for me,” Beetlejuice rumbled. “Once I’ve tasted you, gotten you all sloppy, I’m fucking your brains out.”

“Oh god,” Adam whimpered.

“Not even close.”

Adam cried out as a wet heat closed around his cock. His hands shot down to grab at Beetlejuice’s hair, tangling in the hot pink strands. Beetlejuice pushed his legs up and over his shoulders, and sucked him all the way down. He squeezed Adam’s balls before pressing against his perineum.

“AH!” Adam couldn’t stop himself from clamping his thighs against Beetlejuice’s head, hips twitching. Not that he seemed to mind. In fact, Beetlejuice encouraged it with a loud hum. “Oohh, _fuck!”_

Beetlejuice pulled back with a wet pop. “Hell yeah! Knew I could get you to swear for me.”

Before Adam could get his brain to work to form a response, Beetlejuice was ducking back down between his legs. Adam had no idea the insides of his thighs could be so sensitive, but Beetlejuice’s little licks and bites were like live wires shooting through his body, the scrape of his beard so painfully good.

Then his hips were being raised, his legs bent back towards his chest.

“Whoa, wait!” Adam gasped. “Don’t… Shouldn’t we be using a condom or something for this?”

Beetlejuice looked up at him, resting his cheek against Adam’s knee. “Adam, you’re a ghost. And I’m a demon. You’re clean, I’m cleaner than I’ve ever been, so unless you really want me to, nah, we don’t need one.”

“Oh… right…” Adam gave a little shake of his head. “Keep going.”

Grinning and ducking back down, Beetlejuice squeezed his ass and spread Adam open, exposing him. The first swipe of Beetlejuice’s tongue against his rim made Adam jolt, squeaking in surprise. It was slick, a gentle pressure, and a tickle of breath that shouldn’t have felt as good as it did. The rasp of his scruff was even more noticeable than before. Beetlejuice lapped at him, broad swipes of his tongue over Adam’s quivering hole.

“Fuck!” Adam cried out, clawing at the sheets beneath him. A thumb joined Beetlejuice’s tongue, prying him open even further. Adam’s eyes widened and he mewled. _“Hnn…_ Ah! Oh!”

Beetlejuice’s tongue was inside him. He curled it, twisted, and licked his way deeper. Adam couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t think normal tongues could move quite like that. And then there were fingers, thrusting and stretching. Beetlejuice’s moan vibrated through his body, like he couldn’t be happier than where he was, eating him out with enthusiasm. Adam came with a shout.

When the pleasure buzzing through his body ebbed, Adam opened his eyes to see Beetlejuice above him, smirking.

“Ready for more? Or nah?” Beetlejuice asked, stroking Adam’s calf where it still rested on his shoulder.

Adam waited a few moments before nodding. “I can handle it,” he clarified. If just his tongue was so good, Adam couldn’t even imagine what the full act would be like. He was startled by Beetlejuice leaning down and licking his chin.

“Mmm, yep, all of you tastes good,” Beetlejuice chuckled, licking his lips.

Oh… _Oh._ Adam covered his face with his arm, fully embarrassed. _“Beej.”_

Beetlejuice laughed. “What? Don’t tell me you wanted me to leave you with come on your face?”

Adam weakly smacked at Beetlejuice’s hand, it being the only part of him he could really reach in his position. Beetlejuice sucked another mark into his thigh, appeasing Adam instantly. “Beetlejuice, _please.”_

Beetlejuice shuddered. _“Ooohhh,_ now that’s good. Damn, you should beg more. It sounds so pretty.” He gave a toothy grin as a bottle of lube appeared in his hands. After squeezing out a generous amount, he pressed two thick fingers into Adam.

Adam gasped, back arching. It was a little much, his body sensitive from the recent orgasm, but it also felt so good. And when they crooked inside him? Adam moaned louder than ever as pleasure shot through his body, and he thrust back against Beetlejuice’s fingers. When Beetlejuice rubbed that sensitive nub inside, Adam’s hips bucked, hands scrambling to find purchase somewhere, in the bedding or the pillow under his head, something to keep him grounded. The stretch of a third finger nearly made him wail.

“Shit, you should see yourself,” Beetlejuice husked. For a moment he looked thoughtful, fingers stilling, but then he shook his head. He removed his fingers and pushed a pillow under Adam’s hips. Extra arms appeared and pressed Adam’s legs back towards his chest. Which left his other hands free to line himself up, the head of his cock brushing against Adam’s rim.

“Go slow?” Adam asked, a bit of panic starting to creep in.

“’course, Babes,” Beetlejuice assured, petting his hip.

The stretch was uncomfortable, but not painful as Beetlejuice sunk into him with a throaty moan. Adam’s chest heaved as he tried to control his non-existent breath, keep his body relaxed. And then Beetlejuice was in. Buried to the hilt in Adam’s body. As his legs were lowered to Beetlejuice’s shoulders once more, Adam couldn’t help but bask in the feeling of being so… full.

Beetlejuice’s head hung forward against his chest, he was breathing hard and his grip on Adam’s hips was nearly bruising. He raised his head, eyes half-lidded as he raked his gaze over Adam. “You okay? Did I hurt you?”

“I-I’m good. More than good,” Adam hummed. “You’re so big.”

Beetlejuice growled, low and predatory, and he bent down, moving Adam’s legs to wrap around his waist. Their lips slid together. Adam’s lower lip was caught between Beetlejuice’s teeth, tugged, and released. Beetlejuice teased the seam of his lips with his tongue, and Adam opened readily for him.

Adam curled his arms around Beetlejuice’s neck, burying one hand into his hair, the other scraping over his back. A whimper left him as Beetlejuice drew his hips back, pulling out until just the head of cock remained. He didn’t have to wait long, however, before Beetlejuice thrust back into him, their moans melding together.

“Hahh! Beetlejuice,” Adam gasped, head dropping back against his pillow as Beetlejuice nibbled at his collarbones. The slow roll of Beetlejuice’s hips was as frustrating as it was amazing. Too much and not enough. _“More.”_

“Fuck yes,” Beetlejuice grunted. He gave a filthy grind, making Adam keen, and pulled back again. He thrust hard. Again, again, and again, and Adam cried out, his toes curling in pleasure. Adam pressed his heels into the small of Beetlejuice’s back to urge him closer, pulling on his hair.

Beetlejuice growled louder than ever. “Do it again!”

Adam tugged his hair, and got a guttural moan in response.

“Shit, _yeah,_ Babes,” Beetlejuice panted.

There was no way for Adam to form a response, not when Beetlejuice was slamming into that sweet bundle of nerves inside him. He clawed at Beetlejuice’s back, the two of them writhing together; an all-consuming heat built between them, kisses turned more to sharing panted breaths, hands everywhere and no space.

_ “Beetlejuice!”_ Adam moaned into his ear. _“Yes...”_

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Beetlejuice chanted. He grabbed Adam’s hands and pinned them to the bed, their fingers intertwining. “I’m gonna...”

Beetlejuice threw his head back, mouth dropped open in a lewd moan, and a warmth filled Adam. That was apparently all he needed. Adam’s back arched, pressing him up against Beetlejuice, as he came, pleasure wracking his body.

Limp against the rumpled sheets, Adam came back to himself in bits and pieces. A warm weight pressed him into the bed, and it took him a moment to register that Beetlejuice was lying on him, nuzzling the crook of neck. Adam moved one hand so he could pet through Beetlejuice’s pink and green hair, smiling softly.

Lips glided across the hollow of his throat, tender and relaxed. Adam sighed, blissed out and satisfied, perfectly content to lie there and savor the afterglow. He turned his head and kissed Beetlejuice’s temple. “That was amazing, thank you.”

Beetlejuice’s chuckle was felt more than heard. “I don’t think I’ve ever been thanked for sex before,” he said, voice even rougher than usual. “But yeah, that was fuckin’ awesome.”

Adam huffed a laugh, untangling his other hand from Beetlejuice’s so he could rub his back instead. The way Beetlejuice was cuddling, it was like he was trying to get even closer, but considering he was still inside Adam, they were as close as they could possibly be. As far as Adam knew, anyway.

Speaking of which, “Beej, you’re going to have to pull out of me eventually.”

Beetlejuice grumbled, but he pushed himself up and sat back. He gripped Adam’s hips and slowly, carefully, pulled out. “Wow,” he muttered, gaze heating again as it landed on where Adam could feel the come leaking from his body.

“Don’t even think about it, I’m done for today,” Adam said, snapping his legs closed. He squirmed, working the pillow out from under his hips.

Beetlejuice gave him a lopsided grin. “Then I was true to my word. I fucked your brains out.” His tone was more genuinely proud of himself than outright smug; it was cute, and Adam couldn’t help but smile despite his embarrassment.

With a little wave of Beetlejuice’s hand, they were both clean. Adam hadn’t expected it, but he was grateful. He was too exhausted to do it himself. Sitting up properly, he leaned over and kissed him, resting a hand on Beetlejuice’s arm. Adam enjoyed cuddling and simple affections after sex, and it appeared Beetlejuice was the same.

Beetlejuice looked disappointed when Adam pulled away and stood up. “Where are you going?”

“We have to get dressed,” Adam said, glancing back at him as his clothes materialized on his body. He gestured at the windows, where the peach glow of the sunset filtered through the white curtains. “Everyone’s home.” Adam would have been a lot more freaked out at that, had he not known the Deetzes had installed sound proofing in the walls during their renovation.

“Oh. Yeah, good point,” Beetlejuice agreed, his own clothes appearing.

Adam reached out and adjusted his tie for him. “You can join us all downstairs once you brush your teeth.” With a flick of his wrist, the bed cleaned and made itself.

“But I already cleaned us up,” Beetlejuice pointed out with a smirk as he followed Adam from the room.

“Including your mouth?”

Beetlejuice pouted. “Fine.”

“Oh!” Barbara gasped, having nearly run into them on her way down from the attic. She looked between them and smiled. “Well, it looks like you two really did have a good time.” Her gaze dropped to Adam’s neck.

Adam clamped his hand over his neck, eyes widening as he realized he was covered in hickeys. His cheeks heated as Beetlejuice and Barbara laughed. “Oh dear...”

* * *

Dinner had started out awkward, Delia sending Adam and Beetlejuice knowing smirks, and Charles very carefully avoiding looking anywhere below his face. Luckily, Lydia had been in a sharing mood, telling everyone about how she and Zoe had hung out and watched Jayden at his play rehearsal.

After the Deetzes had gone to bed, Adam, Barbara, and Beetlejuice headed upstairs themselves. Adam paused when he saw Beetlejuice making for the attic. “Beetlejuice?”

“Huh?” Beetlejuice turned, head tilted.

“Aren’t you coming with us?” Barbara asked.

Beetlejuice’s brows rose. “You want me to come sleep with you guys?”

“Of course,” Adam replied.

Barbara held out her hand. “We should’ve invited you sooner… But we’re inviting you now. We want you with us.”

Beetlejuice didn’t hesitate in taking her hand, and the three retired to the bedroom, which came to life in the dim orange glow from the bedside table lamp. Barbara turned down the comforter before changing her dress into a short, lavender nightgown. As she got into bed, Adam changed into a simple gray t-shirt and sweatpants. He glanced at Beetlejuice, who was watching them curiously.

“Come on,” Adam urged. Beetlejuice’s clothes vanished, leaving him in only black and white striped boxers. Barbara beckoned him over, and Beetlejuice climbed into bed beside her.

“Here, like this,” Barbara said, moving them over a little more. Adam settled on Beetlejuice’s left, and drew the blanket up and over them. Beetlejuice flopped back, relaxing with a content sigh. Barbara and Adam cuddled into his sides and the light went out.

“This… is nice,” Beetlejuice spoke finally. He curled his arms around them, holding them close, eyes falling shut with a smile.

Barbara kissed him. “Good, I’m glad.” She rested her head on his chest, fingers running through his chest hair.

Adam had been absently rubbing his belly when a low rumbling made him pause. It took him a second to realize it was coming from Beetlejuice, specifically his chest. He looked at Barbara. “Is he purring?” Adam mouthed.

Barbara stifled a laugh. “Yes,” she mouthed back. She snuggled closer, draping her arm over Beetlejuice to touch Adam’s side. With an amused huff, Adam tucked his head up under Beetlejuice’s chin, and let his hand curl against Barbara’s arm.

“Goodnight, Cuddlebug.”

“Goodnight, Beetlejuice.

“G’night.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, I'm sorry it's taken so long to post this next chapter! To be honest, this time of year sucks for me motivation wise, but here it is! A little short, but I hope you all enjoy it regardless. Thank you to everyone who's been reading, commenting, and leaving kudos, they really do mean so much to me.

Yawning, Beetlejuice cracked open his eyes. Dust motes drifted through the golden beams of morning light, which stretched across the floor and the bed to land perfectly on Adam and Barbara, who were curled up on either side of him with their heads on his chest. They were completely still, their expressions serene. Beetlejuice wanted to look away, unable to handle the emotions trying to crawl up his throat; but, he wanted to watch them forever.

He loved them.

He’d loved them for a while.

He didn’t know how to handle it. Beetlejuice had never been in love before. It had seemed like a bad idea, let alone impossible for several reasons, number one being that he was a demon and really shouldn’t have been able to feel that way in the first place. Somehow, though, it had happened. And Beetlejuice couldn’t find it in himself to be upset about it.

For the first time, Beetlejuice actually allowed himself to be happy, without worrying about the other shoe dropping. He kissed them both on the tops of their heads, just because he could, and tightened his hold on them.

Barbara made a soft sound and her eyes fluttered open. She winced at the sunlight, her nose crinkling, and then looked up at Beetlejuice. “Oh… Morning,” Barbara whispered with a smile. “Have you been awake for a while?”

“Nah,” Beetlejuice replied, just as quietly. Despite what some would think, he did have some volume control, he just preferred to be loud. It made people pay attention. He couldn’t help but smile as well when Barbara kissed his chin. “What was that for?”

“Just because,” Barbara said, sounding amused. “It’s a “good morning” kiss.”

Beetlejuice blinked, then grinned. He could get used to that.

“Mmh? I thought I heard something about a good morning kiss?” Adam mumbled, the eye that wasn’t smooshed against Beetlejuice’s chest cracking open.

Giggling, Barbara leaned over and kissed his nose. “Good morning.”

Adam kissed her cheek in return, then leaned up to kiss Beetlejuice’s. “Good morning to you both,” he said, sounding a little more awake.

It was all so _sappy._ Beetlejuice wanted more of it. He kissed them both on the mouth, despite half-hearted protests of “morning breath”—whatever that meant, and pulled them even closer. Their squeaks of surprise were so cute. “I’m never sleeping anywhere else again, I hope you guys realize that.”

Barbara huffed, smiling fondly. “Of course.”

“We wouldn’t want you anywhere else,” Adam agreed, watching as Barbara brushed her fingers through Beetlejuice’s hair.

Beetlejuice rumbled, eyes shutting so he could properly enjoy the affection. “Good,” he said with a grin. Honestly he was secretly relieved. Despite telling himself that he wouldn’t worry, apparently some part of him still had. He opened his eyes again, his grin turning into a smirk. “Sometimes it’s nice to be boring.”

Adam and Barbara rolled their eyes at him, matching smiles tugging at their lips.

* * *

The setting sun bathed the sky in pink and orange as it slipped behind the trees surrounding the manor. Orchids, larkspur, and hydrangeas perfumed the air with their soft, sweet scent, and flickering lanterns lined the aisle up to the rose twined arbor, where Charles—decked in a classy black tuxedo with a mauve pocket square—waited with baited breath.

Beetlejuice wasn’t the most sentimental person—at least he tried to hide that part of himself at all costs—but with Barbara already teary eyed on his right, and a quietly excited Adam on his left, well, he couldn’t help but be a little drawn into the moment. Especially since they both looked so good, with Barbara in a powder blue dress, her hair pinned up in a loose bun, and Adam in a simple, but tailored, black suit and tie.

The violinists broke the quiet with the romantic tones of Pachelbel's Canon in D. Everyone turned in their seats. The three bridesmaids—all wearing bright pink chiffon gowns—and groomsmen made their way up to the alter and separated. Then Lydia appeared. Her dress, while matching in style, was a blush pink, and actually looked very nice, as did her genuine smile. The officiant gestured for the few guests there were to rise.

Delia, her hair down and twisted elegantly over one bare shoulder, glowed as she stepped from the manor and glided down the aisle; quite literally, as her ivory mermaid gown was practically dripping with rhinestones. Her huge grin was matched only by Charles’ own as she stopped in front of him.

Charles held Delia’s hands and gazed into her eyes. “Delia, I know our relationship has been, well, a strange one, and you know I’m not good with words. Which is why it took me most of our engagement to come up with the right ones.” He paused at Delia’s quiet laugh and chuckled himself. “While I may not always say it directly, I do love you, so very much. You’ve brought light into not only my life, but Lydia’s—even when she resisted at first. Without you… I don’t know what I’d do. So, Delia, this is my promise: from now until we die, even beyond, unless you get sick of me, I will cherish you, and work to make you happier than you’ve made me, because you deserve the best.”

Delia was visibly trembling, and she smiled through the tears that spilled down her rosy cheeks. “Oh, Charles...” She sniffed and laughed at herself. After composing herself as much as possible, she spoke. “I never thought I’d have something so wonderful as you and Lydia in my life. But now I do and more, and… it’s like all my dreams have come true. In the strangest way possible. I wouldn’t have it any other way, though. The universe brought us together, and I plan to make sure it stays that way, because I love you so, so much.”

Barbara was fully crying by the time they kissed, as was Adam. Beetlejuice refused to admit he might have been moved by the whole thing, even when Barbara discreetly handed him a tissue. He definitely planned on making fun of Lydia for crying a little later, but not right now. Beetlejuice had _some_ respect for the wedding after all.

Cocktail hour was what Beetlejuice had most been looking forward to. Well, other than the cake. However, a problem became apparent when everyone gathered in the main hall. Delia’s friends from work, and Charles’ brother and his wife were all there. Had it just been Charles, Delia, Lydia, Zoe, and Jayden, then Beetlejuice could’ve kept a hold of Adam and Barbara, and grown an extra hand for a drink. And there was that whole thing of not all of them could see Adam and Barbara anyway.

“Only some people are drinking anyway, so it’s not strange,” Barbara pointed out.

Adam nodded. “And who needs to drink to have fun, anyway?”

Beetlejuice snorted, but smiled. “Yeah, yeah, sure.”

“It’s too bad we can’t talk to them. I’d love to get to know more of Lydia’s family,” Barbara sighed, watching Charles, Delia and their friends and family talk.

“Well, one of Delia’s friends—I think her name was Zaphora?—seemed like she spotted us as we came inside. I’m not sure, though,” Adam remarked, glancing in the direction of the tall, raven-haired woman speaking with Delia.

Barbara hummed thoughtfully, then shrugged and grinned. “Oh well, either way, I can’t wait to dance together! It’ll be so much fun.”

It was impossible to sulk when with two cuties. Beetlejuice chuckled. “Oh, it will be,” he agreed.

“Ugh, I can’t believe I have to wear this the whole day,” Lydia complained as she approached them, Zoe and Jayden—in a mint green dress and navy blue suit respectively—following. She picked at the pink dress, nose scrunching up.

Zoe giggled. “Don’t be so negative. I think it’s cute.”

“It is!” Barbara chimed in. “I know it’s not your favorite, but I think you can make it a few more hours.”

“Yeah, kid, you’ll be back in black in no time,” Beetlejuice snickered. His grin only grew when Barbara and Adam laughed and rolled their eyes at his pun.

Things picked up when the actual reception began in the ballroom. Beetlejuice finally got some cake, though he wasn’t a huge fan of whatever healthy shit was in it. Still, it was cake, and that was what mattered.

After Charles and Delia’s first dance, everyone else was allowed out on the dance floor. Lydia, Zoe, and Jayden surrounded Beetlejuice and the Maitlands, keeping them out of view of the breathers who couldn’t see Adam and Barbara. It was even easier when the lights dimmed.

That weird, warm and fluttery feeling in Beetlejuice’s chest returned full force; love. Adam and Barbara were smiling at him, all sappy and sweet enough to rot his teeth if they hadn’t been that way already. He could’ve floated. It was only the fact that he didn’t want to ruin Delia and Chuck’s wedding that kept him from doing so. Damn, he was way too soft for these people.

The lights flickered.

A loud rumbling echoed throughout the room, and the ground shook. Gasps filled the air as Beetlejuice turned. Green light cracked through a wall in the shape of a crooked door.

“What the hell!?”

“What’s going on?”

The door swung open, mist spilling out across the floor. People were screaming.

_“ __Lawrence Beetlejuice Shoggoth!”_ boomed a voice from the other side.

Beetlejuice’s ears rang and his vision blurred. “Netherworld...” he groaned.

Barbara gasped. “Beetlejuice, what’s going on?”

“Wait, what are you—” Adam’s question was cut off with a shout, he and Barbara reaching out for Beetlejuice before they disappeared as Beetlejuice staggered towards the door, hands limp at his sides.

“Beetlejuice!” Lydia cried out.

But none of it got through. Beetlejuice couldn’t think. Couldn’t respond. He could only head for the bright green light.

The door creaked, and slammed shut behind him.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you so much everyone for the comments! I'm sorry for not responding individually this time, but I really do appreciate that you're all still enjoying this (even with the cliff hanger). Here's the next chapter, and I hope you all like it!

Saturn again. Adam and Barbara ran through the dunes, looking for the door to their house. If Adam never saw sand again, it’d be too soon.

“Where is it?” Barbara gasped, looking around wildly. Her voice echoed strangely in the wind.

“I don’t know,” Adam replied. Neither of them wanted to even think that they might not find the door. A screech sent dread spiraling into his gut. “Oh no...”

They tried to run, but the sandworm burst from the sand in front of them, both heads snarling. It screeched again and lunged. Barbara shouted in alarm, her fist landing on the sandworm’s snout. Adam watched with wide eyes as it reared back with a sharp whimper.

“Barbara… did you just _punch a sandworm?”_ Adam asked.

“I… I don’t know… yes?” Barbara replied, keeping an eye on the sandworm.

The sandworm gave a little hiss, heads swaying, yellow eyes fixed on Barbara.

“Uh… Bad sandworm!” Barbara scolded.

“Barbara!”

Barbara ignored him. She wagged her finger at the giant, ghost eating monster before them. “B-Bad sandworm! You don’t eat us!”

With a quite whine, the sandworm lowered its heads to the ground. Adam gaped, gaze flicking from Barbara to the sandworm and back. Panic flared within him as Barbara walked up to the sandworm, and he was sure he’d have had a heart attack if he wasn’t already dead when she patted it on the cheek.

“There, now, that’s better,” Barbara cooed, a shaky smile crossing her lips. “See? We can get along.”

The sandworm let out a little trill and gave a slow blink.

Barbara sighed. “Good.” She beamed at Adam. “Maitlands 2.0!”

“Maitlands 2.0,” Adam agreed. That was more of a turn on than it had a right to be. _Not the time, Adam, _he thought, walking up beside her. “Hey, I don’t suppose this might be the same sandworm that ate Beetlejuice’s mom?”

The sandworm made another trilling sound and it’s second head gave a muffled rumble.

“Oh! If that’s true, maybe it knows the way home!” Barbara exclaimed. She reached out to pet the sandworm again. “Can you do that? Can you take us home?”

The ground beneath them shifted and shook as the sandworm pulled itself from the sand, curling back around to face them.

“I hope that’s a yes,” Adam said, approaching the sandworm’s side. He glanced at the sandworm’s main head, then looked up at its striped back. It would have been a difficult climb, but luckily they were ghosts. Barbara was clearly a step ahead, already floating up onto the back and wrapping her arms around a spike. Adam smiled and joined her, holding onto her waist instead.

With a noise that wouldn’t have been out of place in Jurassic Park, the sandworm dove forward, undulating across the sands. Adam yelped, clinging to Barbara even tighter. The sandworm skimmed through the desert like it was nothing, the up and down sway of its back reminding Adam of the time Barbara had convinced him to try riding a horse on their fourth date.

Through the swirling sand kicked into the air by the howling winds, a familiar door soon came into sight.

“Whoa! _Whoa!”_ Barbara shouted, tugging on the spike in front of her as the sandworm rocketed towards it. “Stop!”

The sandworm either didn’t hear her, or it didn’t care, because it smashed right through the door. Adam and Barbara screamed as they toppled from its back and onto the hardwood floor of the Maitland-Deetz house.

“Oh my god!”

“What the hell!?”

“Beetlejuice!?”

Adam groaned as he lifted himself from the floor, shoving aside debris. Charles stood protectively in front of Delia and Lydia where they all huddled by the wall of the dining area. Lydia ducked under Charles’ arm and ran over.

“Adam, Barbara! Are you guys okay?” she asked, apparently unconcerned with the sandworm hanging out in the living room.

“We’re fine, honey,” Barbara soothed, standing and embracing Lydia.

“That’s such a relief,” Delia said, crossing the room to join them. She stopped several steps away, eyeing the sandworm warily. “Charles, didn’t I say they would be okay? My tarot cards knew you’d be back.”

Charles spluttered for a few moments, gesturing vaguely at the sandworm. “Why is that thing in our house again?” he finally managed to ask.

“Barbara tamed it, and it brought us home,” Adam explained, unable to hide the pride in his tone. His wife was amazing.

“Sweet,” Lydia said, patting the sandworm on the nose.

“That’s great and all, but how do we send it back to… wherever it came from?” Charles looked like he needed several drinks as Lydia continued to pet the sandworm.

Lydia groaned. “Do we have to? A sandworm would be a much better guard dog than a regular old dog.”

“We don’t need a guard dog,” Charles pointed out.

“Besides, Lydia, how would we feed it? And the poor thing would need a lot more space than we can give it,” Delia agreed.

“Yeah, okay, you have a point,” Lydia said with a sigh. One of the many things Adam and Barbara had quickly learned about Lydia was her love of animals, and their rights.

Barbara smiled and turned to the sandworm. “Thank you, uh… Sandy? I believe that’s what Beetlejuice called you.” She pointed at the destroyed door. “You can go home now.”

Sandy whined, but with another pat to the cheek, it—she?—retreated into a green mist.

“Well! That was exciting,” Delia remarked, clapping her hands together.

Adam looked around, then at Lydia. “Is Beetlejuice here?”

Everyone’s expressions fell. Even Charles looked a little grim.

“No,” Lydia replied. “I was hoping he was with you on the sandworm.”

“Where did he go?” Barbara asked, distressed.

Delia placed a gentle hand on her arm. “He went into the Netherworld. But I don’t think he wanted to. It was like he was in a kind of trance.”

“And he’s not back...” Adam and Barbara exchanged a glance. He looked back at the Deetz. “How long has it been?”

“It’s almost five in the morning,” Charles said. Despite the time, everyone was still dressed in their wedding clothes. They must have been too worried over all of them to even think to change.

Lydia stood up straighter. “I was trying to convince them to let me go to the Netherworld to find him, but they wouldn’t let me.”

“You wouldn’t have been able to get in,” Adam said with a shake of his head. “Only ghosts and demons can open the door.”

“Yeah and you’re here now, so we can go,” Lydia insisted, going over to the wall by the stairs. “Who knows what’s happening to Beej in that place.”

“Absolutely not,” Charles snapped, marching over to her. “I remember the last time. You are not going back in there.” His expression softened. “What if you got lost?”

Delia raised a finger in the air. “What if we all went together?” she suggested. “With all of us together, we can do anything.”

Adam and Barbara nodded. There was no way they were going to let Beetlejuice be taken into the Netherworld against his will.

Seeing he was outnumbered, Charles rubbed his temples and nodded. “Fine. _But!_ But, we need a plan first. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right.”

* * *

Three ghosts sat behind tall black benches at the front of a warped gray courtroom. A severe, middle-aged woman with streaks of black around her mouth sat in the center, fingers steepled together. To her right was a sharply dressed man with a bullet hole nearly hidden beneath his jaw, dried blood caked across his neck and chin, dressed in a sleek business suit. To her left was a younger woman in a late Victorian Era dress, her neck ringed with red rope marks just above the collar.

Beetlejuice stood in the center of the room, hands and feet bound in chains marked with various symbols. He supposed the multiple escape attempts were to blame, but how was he supposed to know one of them had gone through Juno’s crap?

“Now, let us continue,” the woman in the middle declared. Council Member Virginia Reeves, she had introduced herself as. She, along with Brandon Phelps and Cecelia Van Brunt had been chosen to head the new government in the Netherworld.

“Wait, wait, wait, don’t I get to even defend myself? Shouldn’t I get a lawyer?” Beetlejuice complained. He tried to clone himself, only to feel a shock of pain rip up his spine. He doubled over with a snarl. “Shit. Forgot it did that.”

Phelps cleared his throat for the millionth time. “Our final witness is one Margaret Finch,” he announced, completely ignoring Beetlejuice’s comment.

Beetlejuice watched with a frown as the damp chick from the bridge walked into the room, flanked by skeletons. The Council had been bringing in all the ghosts he and Lydia had helped out as witnesses against him. He’d hoped that at least one would have refused to be in on this drama. Apparently not.

“Miss Finch,” Van Brunt said, her airy voice somehow loud enough to be heard by everyone, “please tell us how you know Lawrence Beetlejuice Shoggoth.”

Margaret didn’t look Beetlejuice in the eye as she nodded. “He and a living girl came across the bridge I was haunting. They offered to help me scare away the other living people who were bugging me.”

Reeves inclined her head. “And how exactly did he go about that?”

“He pretended to be me and appeared to the living so they would see me. We scared them off together. Every once and a while they’d come back and he’d help me again,” Margaret explained.

Reeves talked quietly with Phelps and Van Brunt, consulted her notes, then gestured at the skeletons, and they escorted Margaret out of the courtroom. Reeves looked down her nose at Beetlejuice. “The Netherworld has rules, Mr. Shoggoth, and you broke one of the most important. Twenty-four times. We considered counting the views those ghost hunters got on their little video of you, but given that many believe the show to be a hoax, and you did not show up physically on camera, we are letting those numbers drop. However, you still nearly gave away the existence of an afterlife to over _two million_ people.” Reeves shook her head, hand clenching where it rested on the podium. “We’ve come to the decision that you are much too big a threat to allow free.”

“What!?” Beetlejuice exclaimed, unable to keep silent any longer. “Come on, it’s only twenty-four people! Nobody’s gonna believe ‘em!”

“That’s not the point,” Phelps said with a sniff. “The point is you could slip up even more in the future.”

“And that is on top of the trouble you caused before. You allowed the living into the Netherworld, which cannot be ignored,” Van Brunt added.

Reeves nodded. “Exactly.” She stood. “Mr. Phelps, Miss Van Brunt, and I have come to the conclusion that, in light of your crimes and the likelihood of repeat offense at an even greater risk to the dead, you are hereby sentenced to the Lost Souls Room.”

Beetlejuice’s hands shook. No. This couldn’t happen. This wasn’t how his story was supposed to go. He was a monster, but thanks to the lo—kindness of two goody-two shoes and his friendship with a gothy teen, he was redeemed. Right? That was how stories went.

A hollow pit grew in Beetlejuice’s gut. His life wasn’t a story, no matter how many audiences he made up. If Adam and Barbara survived Saturn a second time, they’d surely never forgive him. He was just a fuck up, like Juno always said, and this was how his existence would end.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys really don't know how much all your wonderful comments mean to me! They really just brighten my day up whenever I see them! Thank you all so much! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. :)

“So, this is the Netherworld?” Delia asked, clinging to Charles’ arm.

“It’s a lot different than I pictured,” Adam muttered.

Barbara nodded, her hold on Adam’s hand tightening. “It’s so… empty.” Like a void, with the only light being the strange glowing squares which formed a vague room. It was disorienting, how it looked like it went on forever in all directions.

“This looks a little like where we were before,” Lydia said. “It is! That’s the detector thing we set off!”

“Ah, so it is,” Charles replied, eyeing it warily.

Loud clicking echoed through the space.

“Welcome to the Ne—Oh. It is _you_ again.” A teal woman dressed in a sparkly red gown stood before them, one hand on her hip, the other holding a clipboard. A white sash with the words “Miss Argentina” crossed her body. She looked over Lydia and Charles with a sigh and a shake of her head, red hair bouncing over her shoulders. “And you aren’t even dead this time. How are you back? No, no, no, _why_ are you back? And with _more living?”_

“We didn’t plan on it, but some of you people came and kidnapped Beetlejuice,” Lydia said, glaring at her.

Ms. Argentina arched a brow. “Excuse me? I know nothing about this. What do you mean kidnapped?”

“We were at our reception when a door to the Netherworld opened up and called him through,” Delia explained, stepping forward a little.

“Oh? Congratulations,” Ms. Argentina said, giving her and Charles a polite smile. “You’d better enjoy it while it lasts, huh? As for Beetlejuice, I don’t know what happened.” She frowned and flipped through the papers on her clipboard. A noise of frustration escaped her. “Nothing! But then, nobody tells me anything. Not unless it’s about greeting the Newly Dead.”

“Please, is there a way to find out? We can’t just let him disappear,” Barbara pleaded.

Ms. Argentina looked her up and down, then Adam. “Wait, you two… You are dead, but I haven’t seen you before.” She flipped through more papers. “Ah! The Maitlands! You are very late.”

“Excuse me, please, we just want to find Beetlejuice,” Adam said, looking apologetic.

“Hm. Fine. I admit I’m more curious about what is going on than I care about doing more paperwork,” Ms. Argentina said. She turned on her heel. “I know where I can find some good gossip. Follow me.”

“I hope we find him soon,” Adam sighed as they followed her around a hidden corner and through a door.

“We will,” Barbara assured him, kissing his cheek.

The group walked down a twisting black and white hallway, doors set at odd angles in the walls. With the way the floor and ceiling tilted this way and that, it had the distinct feeling of walking through a fun house.

“This place has such strange vibes,” Delia muttered.

“Of course it does, you are alive,” Ms. Argentina said, shrugging a shoulder. She looked over at Delia. “You look a little familiar. Do I know you? What is your name?”

Delia blinked. “I don’t think so. I’m Delia Deetz. Previously Deelia Schlimmer.”

“Schlimmer?” Ms. Argentina paused. “Are you related to a Martina Varela?”

“Yes, actually. My mother’s maiden name was Varela,” Delia replied.

Ms. Argentina laughed. “Martina Varela was my little sister!”

“That’s amazing,” Barbara said, voice awed.

“I… I can’t believe it. Or maybe I can, she never talked about her family much,” Delia said, eyes wide and a small wobbly smile crossing her lips.

_ “Hmph!_ And why am I not surprised? We never got along, and my death was not exactly glamorous,” Ms. Argentina huffed, flashing them her wrists.

“Oh!” Delia gasped. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Ms. Argentina said. She grinned and wrapped Delia in a hug. “It is so nice to meet you, _Sobrina!”_

“I wish we could have met sooner! I’d love to know more about you,” Delia replied, close to tears.

Charles cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to interrupt the family reunion…”

_ “Tch._ Yes, yes, we are going,” Ms. Argentina waved him off. She gave Delia a look. “He is handsome, but you could do better.”

Ignoring Charles’ indignant grumbling, Ms. Argentina led them into a large room that resembled an old, dark office. It was completely covered in stray papers and files. Skeletons and other ghosts stuck in their various death states worked at computers, picked through the papers, and took calls.

“Where is he?” Ms. Argentina muttered, her gaze trained on the ceiling. She stopped suddenly. “Ah, there. Billy!”

Barbara clasped a hand over her mouth. A man hanging from the ceiling drifted over, his body was completely flat and covered in tire marks.

“Chiara! Long time no see,” the man—Billy—greeted with a grin. “What’s up? Besides me.” He laughed at his own joke.

“We don’t have time for jokes,” Chiara scolded, clapping her hands together for emphasis. “Have you seen Beetlejuice? Or heard what has happened to him?”

Billy gave a thoughtful hum. “Oh, yeah. I heard the new Council called him in. I don’t know the details, but I’d guess something serious happened.”

“The Council?” Charles inquired, brow furrowed.

“Yes. The new government here. After Juno was eaten, we needed someone to take her place,” Chiara explained. “From what I heard, they want to “improve” things. I only wish things moved faster here, there has been no improvement from what I can see.”

“I don’t know, everything looks good from up here,” Billy remarked.

Chiara rolled her eyes and smacked at his flattened legs. _“Che boludo! _Enough of you. Go! Get back to work!” She turned back to the others. “We’re going to have to track down the Council.”

* * *

The doors to the courtroom burst open. Beetlejuice twisted around, eyes wide.

“Let him go!” Lydia shouted, running into the room. Adam, Barbara, Charles, and Delia were right behind her.

Beetlejuice could see Ms. Argentina leaning against the door frame, her ruby lips curled into a small smirk. So that was how they got here. But why were they here?

“What is the meaning of this? Who are you?” Reeves demanded, standing.

Lydia glared up at her. “Lydia Deetz. Who the hell are you?” she retorted.

“Language,” Charles chided.

“We are the Council that governs the Netherworld. You are in contempt of the court, Miss,” Phelps said. He snapped his fingers and several skeletons that had been waiting around the room stepped forward. “If you don’t leave immediately, you and the others will be charged to go back and haunt the earth for one hundred years.”

“But we’re alive,” Delia said with a frown. She winced, glancing at the Maitlands. “I’m sorry. Most of us are alive.”

Adam and Barbara hadn’t noticed, both trying to get around the skeletons to Beetlejuice.

“What kind of government kidnaps people anyway?” Lydia demanded. “Beej’s done nothing wrong!”

Reeves shook her head. “He’s committed twenty-five crimes in less than a year.” Her eyes narrowed and her gaze roamed over them all. “Twenty-eight. He’s a danger to our society, and your being here proves that point even more.”

“Excuse me, but what crimes are you talking about?” Charles asked.

“Mr. Shoggoth has brought the living’s attention to the existence of an afterlife,” Van Brunt explained. “And allowed the living to enter the Netherworld.”

“This one was on us, actually,” Adam piped up. Barbara nodded, hands on her hips.

Lydia rolled her eyes. “And why can’t the living know about the Netherworld and ghosts?”

“Because that is how it has always been,” Phelps replied stiffly.

“Well, that’s just silly,” Delia remarked.

“She’s right,” Lydia said, ignoring the way Delia lit up at that. “Why’d you make a whole new government to just do the same old thing? There’s nothing wrong with us knowing about the dead.”

“Except that the living would be tempted to enter the Netherworld to see their passed on loved ones,” Reeves said, giving Lydia a knowing look.

Lydia turned her head away, mouth twisting into a grimace. She looked back at the Council. “Okay, so keep the rule about no living people in the Netherworld. Maybe most people wouldn’t want to try? Besides, they’d need ghosts or a demon to open the door anyway, so it probably won’t even be an issue.” She stepped closer, and the skeletons tensed. “You can’t take Beetlejuice away. He’s my best friend.”

“He’s family,” Delia added brightly.

“We love him,” Barbara said, a determined glint to her eyes.

Beetlejuice stared at her and Adam. “You _do?”_ He hated the way his voice cracked, but he’d never thought anyone would say that.

“Of course we do,” Adam replied with a soft smile.

The Council turned to talk amongst themselves.

“Hey, what about this? What if you try it on a small scale?” Lydia suggested, getting their attention once more. “Just in Winter River for now. Some people there already kind of know, so it wouldn’t be hard. That way you can see how the living would actually react, instead of guessing.”

“That’s a great idea!” Barbara exclaimed.

Charles nodded, placing a hand on Lydia’s shoulder. “It is.”

Phelps stood. “We will discuss your suggestion privately. None of you will leave here until we return.”

The Council descended from their benches and disappeared through a door at the back of the room.

“Beetlejuice, are you okay?” Barbara asked, shooting a glare at the skeletons keeping them from him.

Beetlejuice blinked. “Am I _okay?_ Babs, I sent you and Sexy to Saturn, aren’t you pissed at me?”

Adam shook his head. “It was an accident, of course we’re not mad.”

“Barbara tamed the sandworm,” Lydia pointed out with a grin.

“Whoa! Really? Now that’s something I wish I could’ve seen.” Beetlejuice said, smirking. His smile dropped and he shifted in his chains. “I can’t believe you guys all came here for… _me.”_

“Believe it! Like we said, you’re family,” Delia said smiling. “Though we’ll all definitely be in need of some crystal therapy and reiki sessions when we get back. I can’t imagine what sort of damage this place does on the living.”

The door at the back opened a few minutes later, and the Council strode into the room. They resumed their positions at the benches, expressions serious.

Reeves exchanged looks with Phelps and Van Brunt. She peered down at Lydia. “Your proposal is an interesting one,” she said, tone not giving her thoughts away. After a moment, she gave a single nod. “We would like to try it. However, first we will need to go over how to implement your idea.”

“Until then, Mr. Shoggoth will be allowed to stay with you. But, he will be bound to the house and unable to leave. Once we have made our decision, we will make contact,” Phelps explained.

Van Brunt stood and descended from her bench. The skeletons parted and she approached Beetlejuice. He lifted his arms, eager to be out of the chains.

“If you attempt to leave before we contact you, you will be sent to the Lost Souls Room immediately,” she said, a key materializing in her hand.

“Got it. No leaving the house,” Beetlejuice agreed, practically bouncing where he stood.

Van Brunt smiled. “I hope the next time we meet will be under better circumstances, then.” She unlocked the chains, and they vanished.

Beetlejuice turned, grinning from ear to ear. Adam and Barbara rushed to him, throwing their arms around him and kissing his face. Soft, relieved kisses to his lips, cheeks, temples, nose, as if they wouldn’t be convinced of his safety until they’d kissed him senseless.

“Wait a minute, you two said you… love me?” Beetlejuice asked. He still wasn’t sure he hadn’t heard wrong.

Adam gave him a shy smile. “We did. Because we do.”

“We were hoping to say it at a better time, but, well, this seems like a good time, too,” Barbara said. Her eyes flicked to his hair, and her smile grew.

Beetlejuice blinked. It was hard to process. Adam and Barbara loved him. He couldn’t stop the grin from forming, even if he’d wanted to. Beetlejuice crushed them into his chest with a bright laugh. “I love you guys, too.”

And then everyone was hugging him. Even Charles, though his was more an awkward patting of Beetlejuice’s arm, since the others were in the way. Lydia grinned up at him. “Let’s get outta here?”

“Yeah, kid, let’s go,” Beetlejuice agreed.


	19. Epilogue

The time being kept on house arrest went by surprisingly fast. Beetlejuice had expected it to be boring as hell, but apparently being in love—and helping with sandworm based home repairs—made time fly by. He wasn’t sure Chuck would say the same after finding the tenth cockroach in his suits, however.

Beetlejuice was honestly surprised when the Council finally made up their minds and allowed Lydia’s plan to go into motion. With conditions, of course. First, the experiment would last for ten years, barring any catastrophes. Second, the living had to find out naturally, meaning Beetlejuice wasn’t allowed to just show up and scare people into seeing the dead. Then there was the third rule that the dead were also not allowed to show up on video or camera, so that proof of an afterlife wouldn’t find its way out of Winter River. Finally, the experiment would be considered a success if the living and the dead were able to coexist without trying to banish or kill one another.

Lydia was thrilled when the news was delivered. Especially since she had been preparing for it by writing her own handbook; A guide for breathers on how to live with the dead. Adam and Barbara had helped as much as they could, and Delia and Chuck had shared their input. Even Beetlejuice wrote in his own advice. Which Lydia had kept—mostly. Apparently “fuck each other” wasn’t helpful. Once Chuck made enough copies, Lydia planned to distribute the guide to anyone who needed it.

And the best part? Beetlejuice didn’t have to worry about being sent to the Lost Souls Room if the plan failed. As long as he followed any rules set out after, that was. So he took it as a win.

* * *

_A year later…_

Through the windows, the trees in all their fall glory could be seen, decked out in crimson, bright orange, and sunny yellow. Bats and spiders were placed carefully throughout the trees and bushes closest to the house, and the porch was home to a number of jack-o-lanterns.

None of it compared to the inside, however. White roses cascaded down the sides of the fireplace and curled up the banister of the staircase, intertwined with black ribbon. A beautifully intricate spider web hung from the chandelier, light catching on the threads. The dining and living room had been cleared out to make space for the black and white striped runner lined with glowing green phantom lights and chairs.

Beetlejuice stood at the end of the runner by the fireplace. He fidgeted with the sleeves of his black brocade tux, and glanced over at Lydia who sat in the front row. She flashed him a thumbs up. He nodded, feeling a little better.

This wasn’t like last time. In any way. Charles and Delia sat together beside Lydia, and Delia looked like she was about to burst into happy squeals at any given moment. Zoe and Jayden sat in the row behind them. On the other side of the runner was Ms. Argentina—Beetlejuice liked calling her that mostly to annoy her—and a few other Netherworld residents. And of course there was the officiant from the Netherworld who had agreed to be there.

Everyone stood as the Wedding March began. Beetlejuice tugged at his bow tie, despite not really needing to breathe. If he had, all breath would have left him at the sight of Adam and Barbara descending the staircase together.

Barbara’s lacy ivory dress just brushed the floor as they walked, her arm curled with Adam’s. With her golden hair falling freely down her back, her pink lips stretched into a bright smile, she looked like an angel. And Adam looked just as amazing. The forest green tux suited him well, tailored perfectly for his body. Though his smile was shy, it was clear he was just as happy as Barbara.

The two of them joined Beetlejuice by the fireplace, each taking one of his hands. He just knew his hair was bright pink, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care right then. Of course if anyone brought it up later, Beetlejuice would deny it completely.

“We came up with our vows together,” Barbara announced, glancing from Adam to Beetlejuice.

Adam nodded. “Even if this isn’t technically a traditional marriage, we wanted it to be as close as possible.”

As they were dead, there were different practices for spirits. For all intents and purposes, it was a marriage like any other, however they would be literally bonding their souls. Beetlejuice hadn’t realized they planned on doing vows, however. He hoped his panic wasn’t showing.

“That’s because we really do love you,” Barbara continued, gently squeezing Beetlejuice’s hand. “Without you, we wouldn’t have the family we do now.”

“That’s right. And we would still be our stuck-in-a-rut selves. You bring so much life to our afterlives,” Adam said, chuckling at his own joke. Lydia groaned in the background.

Barbara gave Adam a fondly exasperated shake of her head. She returned her attention to Beetlejuice. “A little chaos is good for us, though we do appreciate all that you’ve done to compromise. I’m so glad we decided to move forward together. While we’ve had our troubles, it’s been worth it.”

“We’re so happy to be with you,” Adam added, his smile widening. “I know we’re both looking forward to the future with you.”

Beetlejuice blinked several times. Cleared his throat. “Wow, uh, you two really know how to choke up a guy, huh?” he said. Biting his lip he tried to make his brain work. Maybe he should have taken out those maggots, they might’ve eaten something important up there because he was drawing a blank.

His gaze met Adam and Barbara’s. They were smiling encouragingly at him, their expressions understanding and patient. Beetlejuice took a stabilizing breath.

“A little off the cuff here, but that’s what I’m best at,” he said with a grin. Beetlejuice squared his shoulders. “You two are boring. Less boring now than when we met, though. _But!_ I like that about you guys. It’s nice, in a way I really don’t get. I’ve never really had anything like this before, you know?”

Oh god, he was getting all _emotional._ But they liked that crap, so Beetlejuice went with it. “This is the first time I’ve ever had a family. And like, I lived in places—sort of. But this is different. You two love me—which I still find hard to believe sometimes, ‘cause really? Me?” He shook his head and smiled broadly. “What I’m tryin’ to say, is that this is it for me. Right here. I have a home with you. And… I love you guys.”

Adam and Barbara both gave him looks so sappy Beetlejuice was sure his teeth would rot—more than usual. He loved it, though.

The officiant pulled out red and white ribbons. He wrapped them around their wrists, binding the three together as he chanted in what may have been Latin. Beetlejuice wasn’t exactly paying attention, completely focused instead on Adam and Barbara.

“May you now bind your souls with a kiss,” the officiant declared, stepping back.

Before Beetlejuice could react, Adam and Barbara took their chance. Barbara pulled him down into a bold kiss, her hand cupping his cheek in gentle contrast. And then Adam was kissing him, burying his fingers in Beetlejuice’s hair. Delia’s encouraging whistle was heard above the applause from their guests. When Adam and Barbara pulled back, matching mischievous grins on their faces, Beetlejuice was truly speechless.

Yeah. He was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all folks! The end!  
I want to give a final thanks to everyone who read this story. You're all so nice, and your comments and kudos mean the world to me! This won't be the last story from me, as I do have a couple of ideas in the works, but I can't say when I'll get around to posting them.  
Still, I'm so glad you enjoyed this story, and I hope the ending was satisfying for you all. Thank you!


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